In its last year of being, many don’t know it’s still here. But for five students at Madison High School, Advanced Placement German class is an academic reality. Having met in a multitude of classrooms with a variety of teachers, German students are used to learning in different environments. “This is our fourth teacher,” commented Grace Johnson-Debaufre of the new AP German teacher, Mrs. VanWie. Due to lack of demand, German started its phase-out in the 07-08 school year. At that point, “It wasn’t a full classroom, but there were 12 people. Every year after that, we dropped a couple more kids from our class,” notes Grace Johnson-Debaufre. Now in its final year, five members of the original class remain.
Despite its nearing end, AP German is thriving academically. Students are scoring well, keeping up with the breakneck pace expected of AP classes. The small class size fosters a learning atmosphere, which, as Mrs. VanWie explains, helps her to “cater better to the individual interests of the students.” Add about twenty students, however, and German would be the same as any other AP class at MHS. “You have to learn patterns, grammar and you have to approach reading and writing skills in the same way across languages,” Mrs. VanWie points out. In the coming months, these patterns will bridge the gap between all the languages: German, Spanish, French, Italian and Chinese.
While an AP class is an AP class, German is not your typical AP class. “I try and emphasize the cultural uniqueness of the German language,” Mrs. VanWie remarks of German’s differences. Not only is German distinctive in that way, Mrs. VanWie also hopes it will make a difference if her five seniors’ lives as well. She comments that she wants her students to “have a lifelong connection with the culture and the language.” In that way, AP German won’t really end this year.