Fairfield Area High School (FAHS) students put their German to work last Friday, sharing conversation and American foods with 15 visiting high school students from Bavaria.
The visitors from Gymnasium Waldkraiburg, a school in southern Germany, spent several hours in German teacher Ute Cline’s classroom on Sept. 11 during a day trip from Chambersburg Area Senior High School (CASHS). CASHS and Gymnasium Waldkraiburg have a longstanding academic and cultural exchange partnership.
This year’s exchange runs Sept. 7-22, according to the German school’s calendar.
Cline, who teaches German I through IV at FAHS, encouraged her students to converse in German with their guests. Sometimes, after a few attempts, the conversations shifted to English. The visiting students generally began learning English around age 10, according to their teachers.
“This is always the highlight of the school year when it’s the year when the German students come visit us,” Cline told the group.
Students gathered around classroom tables to talk and sample foods provided for the visitors, surrounded by German decorations and a German flag. The Bavarian students also gave presentations about their region’s traditional dress, customs and daily life.
Bavarian clothing traditions include lederhosen, leather trousers often worn with suspenders, and dirndls, dresses worn with a blouse and apron. Colors and embroidery vary by region, according to cultural information published by the Bavarian government’s Montreal office.
Although Fairfield has its own partner school in Germany, the Bavarian visit is “very special,” Cline said. The guests bring a distinctive dialect and southern German traditions that many Americans associate with the European country.
The FAHS chorus added an American welcome, surprising the visitors with a patriotic song. Choir director Patsy Mills had joined Fairfield students on a European trip over the summer.
“I had fun in Germany, it was great,” Mills said. “My family is from Germany, so it was really cool to drive by and see where my family was from, where my ancestors came from.”
Cline emphasizes immersion in her teaching, using German music, news, food and speaking activities to help students practice the language. Living with a host family offers an opportunity to participate in another culture’s daily life, she said.
Fairfield’s partnership with IGS Morbach became official in 2018. The school is in Morbach, in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where forested hills and farmland remind Cline of Adams County.
This summer, FAHS students studying Spanish and German traveled with teachers and parents on a two-week trip through Spain, France, Luxembourg and Germany. IGS Morbach organized the German portion, pairing Fairfield students with hosts in Morbach, according to Cline.
The itinerary included Paris and visits to Trier, Bonn and Cologne. Students explored Cologne Cathedral and Burg Eltz, a medieval castle in a wooded valley. Hot weather also sent the group to Pulvermaar, a volcanic lake in Germany’s Eifel region, for a swim, Cline said.
Their German hosts marked the end of the visit with a farewell barbecue featuring bratwurst and schwenkbraten cooked on a schwenker grill. Cline described the gathering using the German word “Gemütlichkeit,” a sense of warmth, comfort, friendship and togetherness.
“Beyond the destinations and photographs, the greatest value of this experience was the opportunity for students to immerse themselves in the languages and cultures they study in the classroom,” Cline said of the trip.
For Cline, connections between the two countries are personal. A native of Germany, she immigrated to the United States after meeting her husband, a Fulton County native who was serving in the US Air Force in Germany. She began her education career in Chambersburg Area School District in 2000 and joined Fairfield in 2015.
Students returned from Europe with experience handling unfamiliar situations as well as using another language, according to Cline.
“They learned to manage the many challenges that come with international travel,” Cline said. “In the process, they became more confident, independent and resilient travelers.”
