April 13, 2011

Saturday, May 7^th 12:30 to 2:15pm - Children Dance Performance Festival of Nations (Some 4^th and 5^th graders) 3:00 PM Maifest Performance at Glockenspiel

Tuesday, Wednesday May 10^th and 11^th MCA Science Tests -5^th grade only

Saturday, May 21^st 2:00 PM Performing Arts Performance

Saturday, May 21^st 4:30? Partnering with Germany for a Sustainable Future/ Germanic American Institute/ German American Chamber of Commerce Joint Event

Friday, May 27^th NO SCHOOL Report Writing Day

Friday, June 10^th Last Day of School

Diversity as part of our school vision Educating children for informed and active world citizenship. Andere h�ren, andere sehen, weltoffen denken und handeln.That is our school vision. What does this mean to us? How does it shape what we teach, who we are and how we make decisions and do business? A crucial piece of being an engaged world citizen is preparing our children to interact with and solve problems with those whose experience of the world differs from our own. How do we ground them in that experience?

Our vision and how we incorporate it into the present The school has two initiatives coming up to help us reflect on and potentially improve the way we give students the gift of working across cultures in authentic ways within our school community, while remaining true to our focus of providing a German cultural and language immersion.

1. Later in the newsletter you will read an invitation to become involved in a Diversity Task Force that sets in place methods to reflect on and improve ways we can be equitable and inclusive for all current and future students.

2. I'm proud to announce that our English teacher and Middle School Curriculum Coordinator, Katie Stephens, has been invited to participate in the Neuer Blick Seminar. She has received a scholarship to travel to Berlin this summer to participate in a two week seminar to seek to further understand and appreciate the breadth of diversity found in the German population.Participants will focus on articulating new classroom goals and strategies and on developing new classroom units and teaching models that integrate new perspectives gained during the seminar. Receiving this opportunity is a great honor and we are grateful on the part of the school for the insights and resources Ms. Stephens will gain to enrich the Humanities Curriculum at the Middle School Level and help us as a school represent and teach of the heterogeneity present in Germany in 2011.

GACC May 5^th Gala We are very fortunate for the support of the German American Chamber of Commerce (GACC) and their generosity.This year their Gala dinner features high profile speaker Professor Dr. Norbert Lammert, President of the German Parliament.This same event includes a silent auction, raising funds for a select few organizations including our school! There are a number of ways you can participate in-and support-this event:

1. The school will be sending a delegation and sponsoring at least one table. The cost for participating in the meal is $100 a plate.If you've already purchased a ticket, or are interested in attending, please contact Linda Michel at school so that we can be seated together.

2. Lower cost options of involvement are volunteering.The GACC is looking for individuals who can staff tables during the event.Please contact Ingeborg Sorensen at [email protected].

3. Please also contact [email protected] if you have items that you could donate to a silent auction. Proceeds will directly benefit our programming.

May 7^th Maifest fundraiser at the Glockenspiel: Bakers Beware!

The Glockenspiel Restaurant on W. 7^th in St. Paul is also interested in running a fundraiser for our school during their Maifest on May 7^th. They would like to put on a baked goods contest.There will be 2 categories (Kuchen und Torten). The participants will bring their baked items to the Glockenspiel for judging. The first place of each group will (if willing to share their recipe) be featured at the Glockenspiel as the cake / torte for the month of June. The first 3 places will receive a gift Certificate to the Glockenspiel from us. The entry fee for the baked goods contest is $ 5.00 per entry, of which 100% will go to the school. For further information please contact Marty Ziegel at 507-648-3388 or [email protected].

There will be different performances of dancers and groups all afternoon (Entertainment by bands and music to dance to. The first band will start at 1:00 PM. The 4^th and 5^th grade dance group under Herr Solakhau's direction will perform at 3:00. There will be other contests, best yodeler and best legs in Lederhosen. We will also have the hammer schlagen and other fun activities. There is no cover charge to get in.

Thanks for all you do for the school and for children.

Frau Annika Fjelstad
Director
Twin Cities German Immersion School

[email protected]

Library Open House

Wednesday, April 13 (2:30 pm to 5:30 pm)

Friday, April 15 (3:30 pm to 5:30 pm)

Wednesday, April 20 (2:30 pm to 5:30 pm)

Game Night a Success!

We had a great turn out for Game Night last Friday. Congratulations to our door prize winners Cora Rose Michel (2Bb) and Beke Roth (3B). Cora Rose won Animal Logic, and Beke won Q-bitz. Thanks to everyone who helped out, especially Liane Gale, Tina Roth, Karin Spencer, and Britta Walker.

A Request from an Avalon Student

My name is Kayleigh Dollinger. I am a senior at Avalon, and my senior project is on Waste Reduction, Native Plant Restoration and Invasive Species Removal. I am currently collecting 4 different items, they include: All FRITO-LAY chip bags, Batteries, Capri-Sun juice pouches, and bottle caps.

All of the Capri-Sun and Chip bags will be shipped to TerraCylcing, free shipping, and up-cycled into tote bags for grocery shopping and other reusable items. The Bottle-caps I am bringing to Aveda hair school. The batteries I will bring to a Best Buy location where they will safely recycle them. I can take any type of battery out there!! This includes all sizes and even computer batteries! Also computer parts that you do not know what to do with I can bring to Best Buy.

I have a box in the cafe on the third floor for students to put these items in and also a box in the basement cafeteria. This is really important to me and I am planing on continuing my waste reduction. Cleaning up trash out side is also another thing I have been doing to change the community. When someone sees another person cleaning up and making an effort it is like a virus the love for our earth spreads.

Vienna Community Arts Summer Programs

Waiting for the Train on University Ave.?

If you can't wait for the next light rail train, come to our "All Aboard! In St. Paul" railroad camps. Vienna Community Arts teams up with the Minnesota Transportation Museum in June and July to offer two new exciting summer adventure camps for students ages 7-12.

Camp 1: "All Aboard! Great Train Explorations" from June 20-23.

Camp 2: "All Aboard! Working on the Railroad" from July 18-21.

Check out our flyers for details! Here as attachments or located

in TCGIS lobby. Contact Herbert/Nancy 651-773-9525.

[email protected].net or [email protected].net

Aardvark Arts

Hey! Where's the Aardvark? Somewhere in Herbert's studio. Come check out the summer adventure camps at VCA and find out just where that creature is. Click here for the flyer.

Aug. 1-4, OZ!

Aug. 8-11 A Bug's Life

Aug. 15-18 Sounds of Salzburg

Contact Herbert/Nancy at Vienna Community Arts for details.

[email protected].net or [email protected].net

Summer Chor Opportunities!!!

Expand your vocal repertoire and perform community service during summer break. Performances at area senior homes.

In session one "Americana!" we'll celebrate music of Stephen Foster,

Woody Guthrie, and more.

June 21-July 12, Tues. 6pm to 7pm. Grade 2-7.

In session two "Favorite Musicals" we will sing and choreograph numbers from Peter Pan, Robin Hood, Aladdin, Jungle Book, and Hansel & Gretel. July 19-Aug 9, Tues. 6pm to 7pm, Gr. 2-7. Contact VCA at 651-773-9525 or [email protected].net or [email protected].net

Kinderclub Summer Sign-Up

Kinderclub offers an all-day summer program from June 13 through August 26.

For more information and to register please follow this link to the Kinderclub summer registration form. The filled out form can be returned to the Kinderclub drop box in the school's front office.

Diversity Taskforce

At the February 24 meeting of the TCGIS School Board, the board voted to establish a task force to look into how TCGIS could expand the enrollment and retention of more students of color, and the preparation for accomplishing this.

Currently TCGIS enrolls about 10% students of color, which is very low for schools in our area and in the metropolitan area. Anyone interested in serving on this task force is encouraged to contact board member Anita Ratwik at [email protected]. Anyone with experience in this area is also encouraged to join. This task force has the opportunity to prepare a grant request to the St Paul Foundation by June 20, 2011 for a consultant to help with the implementation of ideas generated by the task force.

The first meeting is scheduled for April 18 at 6:00 p.m. in the conference/board room at TCGIS. We will determine a calendar for the meetings at our first meeting.

School Board Elections

Do you have a passion for our school? Do you, or does someone you
know, have skill and expertise in academic, financial, and strategic
oversight? Do you want to play a leadership role in helping our school
grow into it's full K-8 configuration? If so, consider running for the
TCGIS School Board.

This year's school board elections will take place on Friday, May
20th. We will be electing three new members to our nine-member board
of directors. One term on the board of directors consists of three
years, and a director may serve for up to two consecutive terms.
Parents, staff, and community members are all eligible to run. Any
person who has a passion for the school, and a willingness to work
with and for the community to promote and improve the school would be
a great asset to the Board.

Board nominations and all application paperwork are due this Friday,
April 15 and can be turned in at the front desk. The application forms
can be downloaded from the TCGIS website
(http://www.germanschool-mn.org/board_docs.html) or picked up from the school office. If you have any questions or have suggestions for
potential candidates from our school community or the larger community, please contact Lisa Friedman, Board Secretary ([email protected], 612-781-5182) or any other member of the current board. Thank you for your consideration!

Library Open House and Spring Book Sale

With summer just around the corner, the time is right for gathering good reads for those sunny days ahead!

Check out the TCGIS Library's Open House and Spring Book Sale! The TCGIS Library Committee will once again be collecting book orders to place through globalbooks.de. There are no shipping charges, and a portion of all book orders will be donated back to the school.

Not sure what to order? With help from TCGIS teachers and parents, we have compiled a list of recommended books for all grade levels. Orders are not restricted to the list - you may add any book available through globalbooks.de to your order.

In conjunction with the book sale, the TCGIS Library Committee will also host several Open Houses. The library will be open Wednesday, April 13 (2:30 pm to 5:30 pm); Friday, April 15 (3:30 pm to 5:30 pm); and next Wednesday, April 20 (2:30 pm to 5:30 pm). Stop by to view the library's collection, get book ideas, or chat with library volunteers about your book order.

Click here for an order form, or pick one up at the front desk. All orders are due back by April 21 with pre-payment by check (payable to TCGIS). We will pool orders at an exchange rate of 1:1.45. Families also have the option of ordering and paying directly online with a special code. All ordering instructions are included with the book list.

Thank you for supporting the volunteer-run TCGIS library!

Please contact Kelly Huxmann at [email protected] with any questions.

GAI Summer Camp

Throughout the summer the GAI is offering week-long German language camps centered around different fun themes. For more information and to sign up please follow the link http://www.gai-mn.org/classes/sommer.html. If you use this .pdf form instead, please return the filled-out registration form to Amy Neeser at the GAI.

Host Families for Interns Wanted!

There will be 14 new interns coming to our school this fall (and of course more in the spring) - please consider hosting one of these young people! Do you have any questions or doubts? Would you like to talk to a family that has been or is hosting at the moment? Please contact Darcy Rindelaub (link below).

One new intern that is excited about coming to our school is Tobias Brinning. Tobias will be visiting from the University of Augsburg where he studies to become a teacher of English and Sport. He already passed his exam in Sport and had the teacher training for it. Besides sports he enjoys traveling, reading and fishing.

Also coming this fall will be Bernadette Pfefferer. She will come from the

University of Augsburg, too, where she studies English and Spanish.

We interviewed her while spending some time in Spain trying to improve her Spanish. Now she wants to come here for the fall to also improve her English. Bernadette is a very composed and thoughtful person, who had started her career as a banker, but realized that teaching is a lot more fun. She went back to school to earn the degree (needed in Germany) to be able to go to University

She enjoys working with children of any ages, as well as reading, traveling and dance. Bernadette is also a very musical person, playing the guitar, ukulele and piano as well as singing in her church choir.

Please contact Darcy Rindelaub for more information!

Elternbrief Submissions

Please have all articles pertinent to the TCGIS community submitted to the Elternbrief by Monday at 9 am prior to Wednesday publication. Submissions may be sent to [email protected].