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Staff
Susan Schlesinger,
Director/Teacher: Elementary level ages 6-7
I
grew up in a small town in Eastern Washington State and my passion for German
began when my new English teacher ended up being a native of Germany. Instant
foreign language department! I went on to combine studies in Economics and a BA
in German from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington which included
a study abroad program in Germany and Austria. After graduation I married my
husband Dan and worked both in the States and several years in Stuttgart,
Germany as an accounting manager for a publishing house.
Music
is another love of mine and I have taught private piano lessons for the past 15
years. Nine years ago, I began teaching German in the Portland area privately
and with KIDS LIKE LANGUAGES. Since 1999, I have organized the International
Language Camps in Portland during the summer months for children wishing to
learn language in an immersion setting. In 2004, I joined forces with the German
American School of Portland and directed the summer program held at their
school. I have worked with the German Saturday School of Portland since 2001 and
continue to teach the 6 and 7 year olds. In 2004, I accepted the position of
director of the school.
It
gives me great joy to see how young children and adults alike acquire language
and share in their pride as they develop their language skills. Having
personally experienced many benefits of learning German as a foreign language, I
remain committed to providing quality opportunities in our community to keep
German language and culture alive and well! I feel very fortunate to work
together with a special enthusiastic team of teachers sharing the passion I
realized so many years ago.
Lynn Ries,
Teacher: Adults
I'm
from Wisconsin and was first given German lessons by my 3rd / 4th grade teacher.
I received a B.A. in German from Iowa State, and M.A. and PhD. in German lit
from the U of O. While working on my degrees, I spent time working in
Mannheim
and studying in Hamburg. I taught everything from conversational German through
third year and on to co-production of a German play (Woyzeck by Georg Buechner)
in Eugene. I've also taught at Western Oregon and
Chemeketa
Community College. I do freelance translations and have even worked as an
interpreter in pretrial hearings. My children are enrolled in Saturday School
and enjoy learning German from someone other than me. I believe that studying
language and gaining an appreciation of a culture go hand in hand. Sometimes,
cultural understanding even outlives the fine points of grammar and
vocabulary. I also know that language is a living tool, that it is better to say
something, even if it isn't perfect, and thereby "get something done" than to
suffer in isolating silence. I find that people are willing to meet you halfway
if you try. Let's see what you can do!
Jeff Gearing,
Substitute Teacher
I was
born and raised here in Portland and began taking German in high school. After
completing my Bachelor’s degree in German at Portland State University, I lived
in Salzburg, Austria for one year on an Academic Year Abroad Program through
Bowling Green State University in Ohio. After that I finished my MA in German at
Bowling Green and taught there on a part-time basis for several years, before I
became a full-time instructor of German at the University of Toledo.
Since
returning to Portland, I have been with the German Saturday School for past five
years with the advanced class. Each group has been wonderful to work with and
I’m looking forward to working continuing working with advanced students and
adults.
Sonja Sample,
Teacher: Spielgruppe age 4
I was
born in Osnabrueck, Germany, lived in Hannover, Germany in Lower Saxony in
North-Western Germany for fourteen years and have been a resident of Oregon for
the past nine years.
I privately tutor children ages five to
sixteen in German and offer tutoring in German and English for all ages. After
I first moved to Portland in 1995, I was employed at the
German
American School of Portland as a teaching assistant for two years. Since then I
have taught German at the elementary and middle school levels for the German
Saturday School (1996-1998), Camas School District and KIDS LIKE LANGUAGES. I
hold a Bachelor of Arts in Child and Family Studies from
Portland
State University and have taught as a Head Start teacher for the past two years.
Teaching German gives me the opportunity to use my native language, to keep up
with German traditions and to instill a curiosity for other cultures in children
and adults. I integrate my students' interests into my lesson planning and my
goal is to make learning fun.
Ines Schreiner,
Teacher: Native speakers ages 6-8
I
received my Diploma for Special Education and secondary school teaching in Graz
, Austria. While teaching in Austria, I married and moved with my husband to the
United States. I taught German in Austin, Texas in various schools. After moving
to
Atlanta,
I started substitute teaching at the Goethe Institute. I taught three years at
the German School of Atlanta before moving to the Portland area.
Caron Olson,
Teacher: Elementary level ages 10-11
As a child my grandparents spoke German over the dinner table. This "secret
language" intrigued my greatly and as soon as I was of age and ability to learn
German, I began my studies. From the 7th grade through my senior year in
college I focused intently on learning German, graduating from the
University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1996 with a BA in German Language with a
focus on linguistics. During my time at Madison, I was fortunate to spend my
junior year studying at the University of Bonn. After completing a year of
history study at the University of Minnesota in 1998, I returned to Bonn to
complete a year-long internship in the German Parliament (Bundestag). I also
spent 8 months working for the State of California in Frankfurt. My personal
life led me to relocate to
Oregon
in 2000, after my residence in
Germany,
and soon thereafter I began pursuing a teaching career. I began teaching at the
Saturday German School in 2001. I received my
Oregon
teaching credentials in 2003. I now am a social studies teacher at Sunset High
School in Beaverton. I hope to also teach German at the high school level one
day.
Claudia Werner,
Teacher: Native speakers ages 9-13
Born
and raised in
Germany
I got bitten by the “travel bug” at an early age. After graduating from High
School in a small town near Hannover I went to the US to work as an Au Pair for
a year. Among many things I learned this: Being away from your home country
definitely makes you appreciate all the things you take for granted. I had not
realized how much I liked German language and culture. Therefore, upon my
return, I decided to study German and English at the University of Cologne. I
remember my eight years in
Cologne
as one of the best times in my life. While enrolled at Cologne University I was
fortunate enough to receive a scholarship for the University of Melbourne that
enabled me to live and study in
Australia
for a year. I had time to travel to
Australia
as well as New Zealand.
I
graduated shortly thereafter, in 1998, with a teaching degree in German and
English. I worked at a language school in
Cologne
before moving to Portland in 1999. Immediately, I found work at a high school in
Salem where I taught German for a year. At the same time I was teaching evening
classes at PCC. My teaching experience expanded when I started the German Middle
school program at the French American International School where I am still
teaching today. The same year, 2000, I started at the
Saturday
School. I am looking forward to returning to my fifth year with the Saturday
School and the immersion class. My goal is to provide a fun and stimulating
learning environment, further developing my students’ communication skills.
Traveling, especially to
non-English speaking countries like
China, Japan, Russia and Turkey taught me how much people appreciate it when you
speak their language even if it is just a few words. I guess that’s why I teach
German. Helping people to communicate and bridging the gap to another culture is
a very rewarding experience.
I am
excited to share my German culture and language with people who are equally
excited to learn it.
Daniela Barack,
Teacher: 8 & 9 year old Native Speakers
I am a
native of beautiful Innsbruck, Austria. I always liked to travel through Europe
and learn new languages, but when the big “Wanderlust” came over me I moved to
San Diego, CA as an exchange student. I liked it there so much, that I accepted
the offer to stay as a live-in Nanny for a wonderful host family, where I met my
husband 17 years ago. After living in different places we choose to live and
raise our 2 children (13 and 8 years) in Vancouver, WA, since it reminded me
most of the area where I grew up.
I have been
an educator for the Evergreen School District for the last 5 years and I love to
see each and every one of my students succeed to their own full potential. I
also have a lot of experience with students who are requiring additional
assistance outside the regular classroom. To capture my student’s interest in
learning a foreign language I try to provide a fun and interesting curriculum.
It is important to me, to identify each student’s individualism and accommodate
different learning styles, maximizing every child’s comprehension in this
beautiful language.
I love
being a teacher at the German Saturday School of Portland. It is great to have
the opportunity not only being able to teach my native language, songs and
stories to children, but also to introduce them to the many different and fun
customs of our culture.
Angelika Gorman,
Teacher: Adult beginners
When I was
a teenager, a distant cousin from Canada visited my family in our small town in
Southern Germany. I decided then that I, too, wanted to see the world and spend
time abroad. I traveled to many countries and, while studying German and history
at the University of Stuttgart, became an exchange student at Oregon State
University in Corvallis, where I graduated with a MA degree and met my eventual
husband. A year later I was back at Portland State University as teaching
assistant instructing First Year German, and discovered how much fun it is to
teach the language.
The next few years we lived in Germany where I finished my liberal arts degrees
before settling in the US in 1991. We have been living in Hillsboro and
Beaverton ever since, raising our three children bilingually.
I have been active in my children’s schools, volunteering as well as teaching
art and German lessons. For years, I taught Beginning German classes at Tualatin
Hills Park and Recreation. In my classes, I stress speaking and lively role-play
to enable students to get along in a German environment. Being a history lover,
I also enjoy sharing German history and culture letting myself be guided by the
interests of the class. I met many wonderful, interesting people, and more than
once we continued German classes in a German restaurant.
Currently, I work as an Instructional Assistant in the Beaverton schools, and I
am teaching two German classes for adults.
Anton Van Oosbree,
Substitute Teacher and Music staff
I grew up
in the Bay Area, California and moved to Portland to attend Lewis and Clark
College. German had always been an enjoyable part of my life since first taking
German I in 7th grade so the logical step was to declare German as my major. One
of the requirements for the Major was a year-long program in Munich, Bavaria.
This turned out to be the most defining event of my life. Not only is my German
now at a native speaker level, but I also gained invaluable knowledge about
Europe, the world and myself.
My experience wasn't over at the end of the program, though, since I took a
leave of absence at Lewis and Clark and decided to stay in Munich for another
year. There I continued perfecting my German and expanding my understanding of
Germany and German culture.
Back in Portland now, I earned my B.A. in German Studies in May '06. A friend
brought the German Saturday School of Portland to my attention and since then I
have quite enjoyed being the teacher of various classes. I hope to continue
using my German in whatever field I ultimately enter.
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