You may have heard about the four-part television series  "Germans in America" which recounts the story of German immigrants to the United States. This series, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of the first Germans settling in America, was originally broadcast in Europe and is being distributed, according to the Goethe Institut, to public television stations across the U.S starting March 16.

With spring around the corner, many of you will be making summer plans. We've put together a list of German Language summer camps you may want to review if you are considering sending your child abroad or attending a camp closer to home:
 

Movielovers have the unique opportunity to watch all newly restored episodes of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's epic masterpiece "Berlin Alexanderplatz" (in German, with English subtitles) on the big screen at the ICA in Boston. Co-presented by the Goethe-Institut Boston, the eleven episodes will be screened in segments over four days March 27-30. For more information click here.

In 1608 the first Germans settled in America. As 2008 marks the 400th anniversary of the first German settlements, Consul General in Boston, Dr. Wolfgang Vorwerk, will give a presentation on this historical topic and discuss famous Germans who have influenced the new "Heimat" of Germans in the United States.
 
When: Thursday, February 21, 2008*, 7pm
Where: The Boylston Schul-Verein, Walpole
RSVP: If you plan to attend, kindly advice  Karl Knoblauch by e-mail or phone (781) 893-6627 by February 18th and indicate the number in your party.
Directions to the Boylston Schul-Verein: Click here.

The German Language School in Manchester, NH (part of the NH Germanic Association) is in need of volunteers to run the school and assist with administrative tasks. If you'd like to help or know someone who could or can help spread the word, contact Viktor Misek at wikk@netzero.net. If you'd like to learn more about the German Language School, visit www.nhgerman.org.

For those students taking the Deutsche Sprachprüfung A2 exam, please make a note of the date change: the exam will be taken on Saturday, April 5 instead of May 3 (as originally scheduled.) This change has also been made to our school calendar.
 
Please also note that the Deutsche Sprachprüfung B1 (written exam) will be held on March 1; the oral exam of B1 will be taken on March 15.

This Saturday is our first day of school in 2008 - welcome back! Please remember that all students in grades 6 and higher will take the AATG test this Saturday. We wish all of our students well for this test - viel Glück!
 
For those of you who are not familiar with this test - this is a national test that is administered across the country to students learning German (high school students generally) to measure a student's proficiency compared to others who take the exam nationwide. Not to brag, but last year's average score for our school was 91.4, compared to national average of 77. You can find more general information on this test on our web site here.

Thanks to all for making the annual Weihnachtsfeier on December 15 a wonderful success. Special thanks to the entire event team headed by committee member Darian Neckermann for rising to the challenge once we found out in early December that we had to move our event to a new location. Thanks to all the parents and children for coming and participating, and especially the teachers for preparing the children, most importantly our wonderful music teachers Birgit Danckert and Katja Schoenherr. Not to forget our 9th Grade students who wittingly led us through a colorful program that brought us songs such as "Hämmern, Schrauben, Kleben" (1st Grade), "In der Weihnachtsbäckerei" (3rd Grade), "Fröhliche Weihnacht" (5th Grade); poetic and theatrical presentations incl. "Draussen wirbeln schon die Flocken" (4th Grade) and the "Interview mit dem Weihnachtsmann" (8th Grade) - and much more. We are also happy to report that we have determined the winners of our Christmas quiz. The prizes, an audio CD and MC as well as the iTune gift cards will be handed to the lucky winners in January. We'd also like to extend our thanks to the Vize General Consul of Germany, Dr. Bernd Rinnert, for presenting the Certificates of the "Zentrale Deutschprüfung" to the students of last year's 10/11th grade class - all of whom passed this very demanding and difficult exam. Congratulations and a happy New Year to all our families.  

As you may have noticed, the main entrance to our parking lot on Commonwealth Avenue was blocked on a few Saturdays this past year (this maintenance work is unannounced to us). Should this happen again, please enter the parking lot through the back entrance. You get to the back entrance by turning left into St. Paul Street off Commonwealth Avenue (in direction of Brighton, so the College of General Studies building is on your right). Once on St. Paul, you immediately take another left onto Dummer Street. Pass Amory Street and the back entrance to our parking lot is on your left.

The Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in North Easton, Mass. is inviting everyone to a traditional German Advent Worship Service held in German on Sunday, December 16th at 4.30pm. Traditional German Advent hymns and music will be part of this special holiday service. For more information and directions, contact the Rev. Michael Bastian at pastormbastian@verizon.net.