Borna+visits+USM!

In June 2010, the German Fulbright Commission awarded a travel fellowship to me (Dr. Henry Wend), so that I could learn about the German educational system and visit two schools to help to establish an exchange. I subsequently was able to establish a working relationship with a teacher at one of these schools, the Gymnasium am breiten Teich in Borna, Saxony. The teacher, Ms. Constanze Hahn, and I worked to establish a relationship between our two schools via the Challenge 20/20 program developed under the auspices of the National Association of Independent Schools. As part of this program, our students developed this Wiki to work on a project concerning water use issues in post industrial areas focusing on Milwaukee and the Leipzig area of Germany. Subsequently we made plans for school visits by students and faculty.

Beginning in spring 2011, while Constanze worked to put together a visit for the fall, I began meeting with prospective host families here in the US. We discussed a number of issues at a series of meetings in May and June 2011. It wasn't enough to just have host families. We needed to coordinate home stays, transportation, and activities. We also had to work on coordination between families to make sure that German students remained engaged and learning while our students studied for tests. To facilitate communication and to streamline meetings, I began meeting with a steering committee of parents. This proved invaluable because each parent could then take over a specific task. For instance, one parent "rode herd" on issues of transportation. Others set up a Google Doc to help arrange food for potluck meals for welcoming the German students to Milwaukee and the farewell trip. Several parents volunteered to host a get together on the penultimate evening for the students. We had several all parent meetings in September to cement the schedule, arrange rides for pick up and departure in Chicago. The whole hearted support and imagination of the parents proved indispensable for the success of the trip. I also had to work on hosts for visiting faculty. Whereas I knew that Constanze would stay with my family, I had to find a host for her colleague. This again was more complicated that it would seem. The trip occurred directly over our comment writing day, which is necessary for full time teachers to report progress and challenges for every student in their classes. Moreover, early admissions college applications are due November 1, and that increased the stress level for seniors and members of our college advising staff, one of whom had expressed an interest in hosting. To solve this, we coordinated a hand off, splitting the hosting duties between two colleagues, and I kept the visiting faculty and students busy over the weekend with trips. By doing this, I took on responsibility for entertaining the visitors over the weekend, with a small party at my house (brats, of course) on Sunday for the "hand off". This enabled my colleagues to get their work done. Incidentally, I worked on my comments in advance and had to finish them early in the morning before school in order to free up the weekend for myself.

Several lessons for future visits were included in parent surveys conducted after the trip. Several noted the need to tighten coordination on school nights when some USM students might have too much homework to pay as much attention to their German guests as they would like. Perhaps a geographical arrangement, where parents living in the same neighborhoods could work out short term guest sharing arrangements. Another option might be a night talking with the host families, watching some television, or catching up on e-mails and social networking.

The Exchange, Monday, October 24- Saturday November 5 Monday, October 24. I drove to Chicago O'Hare to pick up the German students and their teachers. Two parents accommpanied me. The flight was on time but the Germans took over two hours to clear customs. We drove up to Milwaukee, where we had planned a pot luck welcoming dinner for all of the participating families where the kids could meet and be taken to their respective homes for the next two weeks.





The School Visit Week 1:

My goal with the school visit was to keep the German students busy and engaged. I also wanted them to get to know as many faculty and staff as possible so that everyone would know who they were and they could ask for help if need be. To facilitate this, on the first monring, I arranged a tour of the school with the head of our maintenance staff. The Germans were given a tour of the building from the inside out. Our maintenance chief, John, was happy to show off the building and the German students could begin to learn about how an American school is designed and run. I also made sure that we had a number of special meetings with faculty and staff: I gave the German students an overview of the American educational system. My colleague Elaine Griffin taught a special session on American turns of phrase (think about the origins of "high tailing it outta here"). Our Dean of Students, Mr. Rishi Raghunathan (Mr. R for short), provided the German students an insight into student discipline and the affective side of an American school. Lastly, I made sure that there was a formal meeting with our head of school, Mrs. Laura Fuller. We also made arrangements for the German students to shadow their hosts both in schools and in advisory and at assemblies. This led to the opportunity for the German students to get into the flow of the school. One noteworthy event was the participation of advisory groups in an all school Masquerade March, which enabled several of the exchange students to work with our lower school children preparing and marching in costume before the entire school community.

Several lessons from this portion were the success in integrating the German students into school life through the tour, the meetings with administration and small faculty meetings, and the welcome that the German students received in advisory. One advisory used the opportunity to have Max, one of the German students, explain German (often none-too-flattering and all-too-close-to-the-truth) stereotypes about Americans. I also believe the German students were truly fascinated and a bit bewildered by American educational practices with reference to discipline and oversight of students.











Before and after school activities and weekend trips, Thursday, October 27 through Saturday night, October 29

I had a three fold mission with before and after school activities for the German students and their hosts. First, I wanted to further their engagement with school life, much of which happens before and after instruction hours. Second, I wanted to facilitate activities that would further the USM community, and thereby deepen their interaction with their hosts as well as to allow participation for members of the USM community beyond just the hosts and their families. Lastly, I wanted to showcase the area with trips out of town.

Activities at school included a before school meeting of our Global Studies Program, during which we skyped with an Iraqi girl who related her experiences growing up in Iraq over the past decade; a talk from a school parent who is a vice president for Harley Davidson in charge of global sales, who related his experiences working in a global economy; and a late afternoon talk with Dr. Micheal Bartl, a German who now teaches at USM, about his experiences as a German who moved to America, and now lives near Milwaukee. We followed this up with a ping-pong and pizza party. On Friday, October 28, we chartered a bus and took German students, their hosts, and interested Global Scholars, to Chicago for a morning at the Shedd Aquarium and an afternoon on the Magnificent Mile and Millennium Park. Saturday, we car pooled to Madison, the state capital, to tour the University of Wisconsin-Madison and to visit State Street and the Capital Building. We came back late that afternoon and capped the day with a pumpkin carving party and a visit to the Haunted Houses at the Feargrounds in Waukesha. Sunday was family day, with students "chilling" with their hosts and going on a number of family excursions including the Milwaukee Ballet and shopping at Bayshore Mall.























Reflections on week 1:

Over all, Week 1 went about as well as I had hoped. The students bonded quickly (they had all been in touch in advance via Facebook), USM parents were brilliant in coordinating pick ups, the welcoming dinner, and transportation to and from school and to Madison. I learned an enormous amount about my own school, especially the logistics and expenses involved with transportation. A key aspect of this week's success was that I had cleared my decks in anticipation for the exchange. I made sure that I had lesson plans done in advance, I was ahead on my preparation, and that my comments were done. I also talked to many people in advance to set up the meeting with the Head of School, the tour with John Rouse, and the meetings with the Dean of Students. Advanced planning also helped, but my German colleague wanted the students to see more in Chicago. Next time, I will plan an overnight in Chicago for the Germans so that they can see more. It may be that they stay for a day or two on their own, and then take the Amtrak back up to Milwaukee, while I take the rest of the Americans back up to Milwaukee so that they can catch up on school work.

I also over scheduled the Saturday with Madison being too rushed. In the future, I believe less may be more when travelling out of town. One complicating factor was that the Halloween "celebration" (some would say debachery) was happening in Madison the Saturday we visited. I was frankly relieved to get out of town, but my German colleagues and the students were annoyed that we could not spend more time. I surveyed parents after the exchange. Several responses contained comments about conflicting agendas amongst parents and the need to have a simpler agenda on the weekends. We did rush back to Milwaukee for the pumpkin carving and the haunted house. Zum nachsten Mal, werde ich alles verbessern!

Week 2: Getting to know Milwaukee and getting into the flow of school life

The Borna students spent the second week in Milwaukee. My intention for this week was to have the students participating in classes, and sharing experiences with USM students. I was especially happy that Hannah Reimer, our 7th grade English teacher had made time for the Borna students to talk to our 7th Grade about Borna and their experiences. Borna students and faculty also participated in round table discussions in Ben Zarwell's Fascism and Final Solution class, as well as attended an afternoon session with Mrs. Elaine Griffin on American slang. The Germans also toured the Harley Davidson Museum and the Milwaukee Museum (Calatrava designed), and took a historical walking tour of downtown Milwaukee. On a separate day, the Challenge 20/20 team and the Borna students presented their work at a Civic Forum on Water Use Issues in Post Industrial Areas organized by Professor (and USM parent) McGee Young. I will discuss that on a separate page on this Wiki. Lastly, the parents organized after school and evening activities for the students, including a tour of the Sprecher Brewery, an dinner and dance party, and a simply wonderful farewell party the night before the Borna students returned home. The parents were again brilliant in their organization of transportation, going so far as to arranging another shopping day for the German students who wanted to pick up shoes and Levis at American prices and inviting the German teachers to the opening of our Holiday Shop, a gala event for a major fundraiser at the school.