Event

Laternenfest am 8. November

German School of Madison
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Impressions from German School of Madison lantern parade (2014)

This year’s St. Martin celebration will take place on November 8 (Sunday), from 4:30-7:30 pm at the Shorewood Hills Community Center (901 Swarthmore Court). The program will begin with a performance of the story of St. Martin. At about 5 pm we’ll head out for the lantern parade around the Shorewood Hills neighborhood. Afterwards, we’ll head back to the Community Center for a potluck meal together.

All invited!

Please bring:

  • lanterns and matches (if you are using candles)
  • reflective clothing and/or a flashlight
  •  a contribution for the potluck meal
  •  plates, cups, and cutlery for your family, if you choose to do so (but we will also have disposable items)

If you signed up to be a volunteer at the event, please report to the Community Center at 4:00PM.

If you are looking for some inspiration on making a lantern, websites such as Pinterest.com or familie.de have plenty of great examples.

We hope to see you all!

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Some impressions from our 2015 Sommerfest (Slideshow)

GalleryGerman School of Madison

This is the day when our students perform for their families — from Goethes “Gefunden” to an enduring song about a stolen coconut. A big thank you to everyone who participated — and especially to our wonderful teachers.

(Friendly reminder: Online registration for 2015-16 is open. Early bird discount until July 15.)

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Our first summer camp was a big success

German School of Madison

25 children (6-12 years old) had a great time at our first GSoM summer camp (June 15-19, 2015). A big thank you to everyone who helped make it happen, especially Chris Tabisz, who was in charge of putting the camp together, and Morgan Achterberg, who was the local coordinator. Thanks to Chris’ initiative, we received a financial grant from the Central Agency for German Schools Abroad (ZfA), which helped keep tuition low.

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The topic of our camp was “Märchen” (fairy tales). Here kids learn about German fairy tales with Bernie Schlafke and his guitar.

Bernie Schlafke playing the guitar

Which fairy tale is being acted out here? (Hint: A pair of siblings captured in the woods is involved.)


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Students are decorating “poisonous” apple cookies for another fairy tale.

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Storyboard for the same tale.

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Having fun outside.

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A big thank you to our six teachers and three volunteers…

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…and, of course, to our students for making our first camp a big success!

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See you back in the fall! Registration is open (deadline for early bird discount: July 15).

 

Faschingsparty 2015

GalleryGerman School of Madison

With the help of Luftschlangen, Schlager and fabulous homemade delicacies we once again turned the Community Center in Shorewood Hills into Fasching Central. Check out our slideshow of wizards and chefs, goddesses and jesters, fairies and pirates! A big thank you to everyone who  made our annual Faschingsparty a success — and to Iris Hengst and Elisabeth Berkelman for organizing it.

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(Pictures © Ralph Grunewald. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s owner or the copyright holder is strictly prohibited.)

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.

Great turnout for St. Martin’s celebration

German School of Madison

Laterne, Laterne… Sonne, Mond und Sterne

More than 140 friends of the German School of Madison celebrated St. Martin’s day with a lantern parade tonight. And what a parade it was! Owl lanterns, moon lanterns, dino lanterns, panda lanterns … connecting to a row of glowing dots, moving through the beautiful Shorewood Hills neighborhood.

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Before the parade, we sang traditional lantern songs and enjoyed a performance of the legend of St. Martin by the students enrolled in our DaF1, Vorstufe, Deutsch 1, Deutsch 2, and Deutsch 3 classes.  There was even a snowflake dance!

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At last, it was dark enough to venture outside.

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After the lantern walk, we enjoyed a fabulous potluck meal…

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..with Stutenkerlen and Christmas cookies, the latter generously donated by Clasen’s European Bakery.

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It was a wonderful evening to connect with old friends and make new ones.

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Copyright pictures Ralph Grunewald.

World Cup: German language broadcasts

German School of Madison

Would you like to watch the Soccer World Cup with German language commentary? You can do so at Van Hise Hall, courtesy of Letters & Science Learning Support Services. See their announcement here (note: no food, absolutely no alcohol). These broadcasts are open to the public, not just the University community.

LOCATION: Van Hise Hall is located at 1220 Linden St., just West of Charter St. and between Linden Ave and Observatory Dr. Both of these rooms are located on the 1st floor of Van Hise Hall, feature auditorium style seating, and can seat around 100 people.

The rooms look like this: http://www2.fpm.wisc.edu/support/vanhise/VH104.jpg (104) and this:http://www2.fpm.wisc.edu/support/vanhise/VH114back.jpg (114)

And don’t forget to join us for the Germany vs. USA game at the Union Terrace on June 26 at 11 a.m. The broadcast will be in English, but many German speakers will be happy to add their own live commentary!

 

Soccer World Cup: Germany vs. USA

German School of Madison

The soccer World Cup is just around the corner. The Isthmus has a nice round-up of locations that will screen broadcasts of the soccer World Cup in Brazil.

On Thursday, June 26th, from 11 AM to 1 PM, Germany will be playing the USA in the World Cup 2014. We invite everyone to come and join us at the Rathskeller in the Memorial Union to watch the game. Bring friends and family. Kids can also run around on the Terrace. See you then!

Am Donnerstag, 26. Juni, von 11.00 bis 13.00, spielt Deutschland gegen die USA in der Weltmeisterschaft 2014. Wir laden alle ein, mit uns das Spiel im Rathskeller in der Memorial Union anzuschauen. Freunde und Familie sind willkommen!

(In Deutschland nennt man so etwas inzwischen ein “public viewing.” Wer den Begriff für unpassend hält und damit eigentlich anderes assoziiert, kann sich im Sprachlog von Linguist Anatol Stefanowitsch darüber schlau machen, wie der Begriff im Englischen verwendet wird.)

See some familiar faces in this WKOW 27 video, posted on wkow.com, and read about reactions to the game in the Wisconsin State Journal.

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GSoM Teacher and Board Member Chris Tabisz