Students From Germany To Visit Gatton Academy, WKU Campus Next Week

Western Kentucky University’s German Program will host 10 high school students from the Sophie-Charlotte-Oberschule and the Goethe-Gymnasium in Berlin, Germany, from Sept. 6-13.

English teachers Martina Scheyhing and Lothar Schmitt will accompany the group. The visit is supported by a grant from the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation of Berlin, Germany. This is the second time that the foundation has supported student travel to the WKU campus.

The German high school students are: Zoё Alfes, Marwin Bannehr, Sebastian Grimm, Christian Hassenstein, Carolin Kempfer, Lisa Nix, Leon Schwenke, Timo Seegelken, Daniel Witte and Koray Yesilli.

Dr. Laura G. McGee, interim head of the Department of Modern Languages, made the contact to the two Berlin schools several years ago. “We have had a very fruitful exchange with the Sophie-Charlotte-Oberschule and the Goethe Gymnasium in Berlin,” she said. “WKU students have enjoyed home stays with families from these schools. Now we look forward to showing them our campus and its many resources.”

The home stays were part of a study abroad program Dr. McGee has led to Germany each year since 2006. In 2009 Dr. Phil Lienesch of WKU’s Biology Department co-led with Dr. McGee a program for WKU students in the sciences, which was supported by a Group Study Visit Grant from the German Academic Exchange Service.

Fifteen WKU students took part: Katie Dillinger, Jarred Grider, Nathan Griffin, Jess Heichelbech, Tyce Hodges, Benjamin Messick, Holly Mitchell, Rachel Moore, Claire Priddy, Nathan Salazar, Jacob Turner, Dakota Waddell, Amanda Webb, Jeremy Webb and Jennifer Wojno.

The German students are interested in experiencing life on an American university campus. They will be hosted by WKU students, almost all of whom are studying German, and they will visit classes in disciplines they might like to study after graduating from high school.

While here, the students from Germany will make presentations in German classes and at a campuswide event sponsored by the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky and the WKU Honors College at 4
p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 8) at the Gatton Academy.

In addition to observing classes and attending WKU’s first home football game on Sept. 12, the group will canoe on the Green River at WKU’s Upper Green River Biological Preserve. Also planned are a visit to the Bowling Green International Center and a tour of the Corvette Assembly Plant. The group has also been invited to two area high schools.

The visit provides a unique international experience for American and German students. WKU student Magen McCrarey met several of the German students who visited last September. She kept in contact and even visited her German friends this past summer. She will be a host to Lisa Nix, who arrives with this year’s group from Berlin.

The next WKU study abroad program in Berlin is planned for May 2010; the topic will be Leadership Studies in Germany. For information, contact Laura McGee at laura.mcgee@wku.edu or the program’s co-leader John Baker at john.baker1@wku.edu.

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For information, contact Laura McGee at (270) 745-2401.