Ela Gezen Coordinates K-12 Outreach in Collaboration with Students in German and Scandinavian Studies

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Ela Gezen
Ela Gezen

The Program of German and Scandinavian Studies (GSS) was selected as a SPARK lab for the academic year 2020-21. SPARK (Strukturiertes Programm zum Aufbau von Ressourcen und Kompetenzen für den DaF-Unterricht in den USA/Structured Program for the Acquisition of German in the U.S.) is a joint project of the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) and the Goethe-Institut, which among various interconnected goals, aims to strengthen existing German programs, build new ones and to foster collaborations across K-12.

Supported by SPARK partners, the German and Scandinavian studies program offers German-language programming at local public schools, that allows undergraduate and graduate students (and prospective teachers) to gain first-hand teaching experience in K-12 schools, to foster their curriculum development skills and to contribute to increasing the demand of German in Western Massachusetts.

Ela Gezen, associate professor of German and undergraduate program director and AATG MA Chapter President, serves as project coordinator and liaison at UMass. This semester she is working together with graduate student Kelly Champine, Ph.D. candidate Karolina Hicke  and German major Tyler Dillon in supporting efforts at local schools to encourage language learning, promote language diversity and offer enrichment opportunities for students to cultivate their languages, in the context of the Seal of Biliteracy and Biliteracy Pathway Awards. Moreover, they are excited to offer SPARK for German virtual German-language programming for beginners, grades seven to twelve, starting in March.