Author: German School of Madison

Celebrate the 5th season with us!

German School of Madison

Please join us at our annual Fasching/Karneval Costume Party/Potluck on February 15!

Fasching, also known as Karneval, Fasnacht, Fastelabend, or the Fifth Season, is a pre-Lenten celebration observed mainly in the Catholic regions of German-speaking countries. Originally, revelers wore fright masks to scare away the evil spirits, but the costumes evolved over time from mainly scary ones into sweet and cute ones, from monsters to silly ones, and ended up being anything crazy, funny, or even taboo.

Fasching

Fasching 2014

In short, Fasching is a time to get crazy! Anything goes! It’s a time to break the rules and make merry! We hope to see you there.

DATE: 1/15/2015 (Sunday), 4:30PM – 6:30PM 

LOCATION: Shorewood Hills Community Center, 901 Swarthmore Court, Madison, WI – UPSTAIRS

COSTUME PARADE: There will be a costume parade for all ages and best costume certificates, followed by jokes, skits, games, dancing, and merry-making! Adults and children alike are strongly encouraged to come in costume!

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Fasching 2014

Any comical, funny Fasching skits or “Büttenrede” which you might want to perform yourself can be submitted to Iris Hengst (irishengst@charter.net).

COST: For families with students enrolled in the German School of Madison, there is no additional cost for this event.  For families not enrolled in the school, we request a $5 per family donation. Everyone will be asked to register at the entrance so we can assign numbers to the children for the costume parade and certificates.

POTLUCK: Each family is asked to bring a dish to share for our potluck (anything goes — casseroles, chilies, salads, breads, or desserts.) The school  will provide paperware and beverages. As always, you are encouraged to bring your own plates, cups, and cutlery to reduce waste.

Faschingsfest Coordinators Elisabeth Berkelman and Iris Hengst

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Fasching 2014

Copyright pictures Ralph Grunewald

Two Waldsee scholarships for our students!

German School of Madison

Fantastic news: Concordia Language Villages is setting aside two $500 Passport Fund scholarships for GSoM students to help pay for a two-week or four-week summer camp course at Waldsee, the oldest and largest German language immersion program in the US.

Waldsee Summer Camp

Applicants need to fill out an application form and need to provide additional documents. Details about the application process can be found here. Rates and dates for Waldsee summer camps can be found here. We ask that you let us know if you are applying for the scholarship and that you specify “German School of Madison” as your school on the application form (don’t list the elementary or middle school your child goes to — this would put them in the general pool for scholarships). If you have any questions about the process, please contact us by e-mail (germanschoolofmadison@gmail.com).

Besuch vom Nikolaus / A visit from St. Nick

German School of Madison

2014-11-21 04.25.44 pmPlease join us for our first St. Nikolaus Day Party!

When: Saturday, Dec. 6, from 4:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Where: Shorewood Hills Community Center, 901 Swarthmore Court

All welcome!

We will be enjoying a visit from St. Nikolaus himself, who will be speaking with the children and hearing all about how well-behaved, hard-working, and kind they have all been over the past year. He will have a treat for every child. Afterwards, we will enjoy a potluck buffet of cakes, cookies and other treats, along with coffee, tea and lemonade. Each family is asked to bring something for our Kaffee & Kuchen buffet. We will provide paperware, coffee, tea, and lemonade. As always, feel free to bring your own plates etc. to reduce waste. For families with a child/children enrolled in one of our classes, the event is free; otherwise we request a donation of $10 per family to cover our costs.

The party will start immediately after the end of our weekend project classes (Deutsch 1/2/3, Vorstufe, DaF1). St. Nikolaus will visit their classes as well.

In order to know how many treats to prepare, we need to know how many children will attend. If you plan to attend the party with a child/children, please use this link to sign up: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0b4dada822ab9-stnikolaus  (If your child is a student enrolled in Deutsch 1/2/3, Vorstufe, or DaF1, you have already been sent a different link via email. Please use that link to sign up. The link above is for children who will not be at the project class.)

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We hope to see you on the 6th! Be good — and don’t forget to put your boots out the night of December 5.

Book grant from the ZfA

German School of Madison

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We gratefully acknowledge our first grant from the German government: The  Central Agency for Schools Abroad (ZfA) generously provided funding for the purchase of more than 60 textbooks, workbooks, Duden grammars, teacher resource books, and poetry collections for our students.

Selection of books provided by ZfA

Selection of books provided by ZfA

These books will mostly be used in our Deutsch 1/2/3 series. Board member Catrin Weimbs was delighted to deliver them to these classrooms.

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Educational director Catrin Weimbs distributing textbooks to Deutsch 1 teacher Morgan Achterberg

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Deutsch 1 students with their new textbooks

The books belong to the German School of Madison and can be checked out by teachers for short-term or long-term use. If your child received one of these books (they are marked with a ZfA sticker inside), please make sure that they do not write or draw in the book. Books will be collected at the end of the year and redistributed in the new academic year.

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Deutsch 1 student enjoying working with her new book