German teacher invited to New York training

Published 10:50 am Thursday, January 28, 2016

Edina Kecse, German teacher at Mount Si High School, was invited by the Goethe-Institut New York to a workshop of the German American Partnership Program (GAPP).

At the Jan. 16 and 17 event, 40 teachers from 24 states gathered in New York to share new ideas for exchange programs and to receive support from long-term GAPP sponsors and administrators.

Kecse was briefed on program coordinator tasks for her upcoming school exchange with Germany, and met with high-level representatives of the German Consulate in New York. She also met the executive director of the American Association of Teachers of German, executive director of the Goethe-Institut NY, head of the Language Department and executive director of GAPP.

“It was great to meet other coordinators across the country. I gained lots of valuable ideas to consider for our exchange program,” Kecse said.

At Mount Si High School, Kecse has been organizing a popular exchange program for several years, in partnership with the Riesener Gymnasium, a secondary school in Gladbeck, Germany. Recently, this exchange program became an official GAPP exchange, for which Kecse is the GAPP Coordinator.

Since the school’s program started, it has offered many students the opportunity to travel to Germany, to test what they have learned in their German language classes, and to forge new international friendships.

This summer, a group of approximately 20 Mount Si High School students are planning to travel to visit their new German partners, whom they hosted last October.