www.concordialanguagevillages.org

Deutsch ist Cool!
Komm mit nach Waldsee!!

Waldsee Adventure
Day Camp

Adventure Programs
at Waldsee

Waldsee is launching a new Adventure Day Camp for villagers between the ages of 6 and 11. The Day Camp will run Mondays through Fridays from July 16 through August 24.  The program is open to anyone living or vacationing in and around Bemidji, Minn. Following the Waldsee model, Day Camp participants will learn German while having fun participating in activities like mask-making, painting, swimming, hiking and much more. Lunch will be provided each day and villagers will also have the opportunity to visit the Village store where they can purchase Gummi Bears and other German treats. At the end of the day they catch the shuttle to return to a local drop-off point.

Waldsee offers several different opportunities for returning villagers who want to use and expand their German while concentrating on specific themes. Villagers can choose from das Märchenwald (a program that explores medieval life, arts, and theater), die Grüne Welle (our environmental and outdoor exploration program), das Stadttheater (our theater program), Helvetia (our Swiss program that is offered in cooperation with our neighbor Lac du Bois, the French Language Village), Waldsee Radio (where you can DJ for our very own radio station) and die Kollegstufe (a program that emphasizes reading and writing skills). For specific sessions, please consult the summer schedule.

4-Week Middle
School Program

High School
Credit Programs

"There's still so much to do — can I stay longer - darf ich noch bleiben!?" Two weeks at Waldsee just fly by - we've had so many requests for a four-week immersion program, wir sind bereit - immer bereit! Starting this summer, Waldsee is offering a four-week immersion language program for youth in grades 6-8. The same fun and excitement of Waldsee's core program await, but with more depth of experience and important preparation for high school. Kids can hone their language skills, deepen their friendships with pals from across the country and around the world, and simply enjoy the Spass und Abenteuer of life at Waldsee. Sei da oder sei viereckig!


 

In the Waldsee high school credit program, learning means going beyond the traditional classroom.  Surrounded by a beautiful natural environment as well as authentic architecture, students learn German through regular contact with teachers and fellow campers.  Students take control of their education as they complete projects based on their personal interest.  They leave with an understanding of German as a lived process achieved through meaningful social interaction. Classes are small, allowing for individualization according to need and learning style. Waldsee's high school credit session is accredited by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement

Scholarship Winner Announced!

Making a gift to Waldsee
 

This winter Waldsee sponsored an Internet Schnitzeljagd for students of German and their teachers all across the U.S. We were overwhelmed by the postive response — almost 1,000 German learners joined in the Schnitzeljagd! We are delighted to announce that Gabriel Andres Perez Ocana, 10 years old, from the New School of Orlando, Florida, won our 2-week scholarship. His teacher is Sarah Hoeffler from the Florida Association of Students of German.

Since the response was so favorable and so many teachers and students participated, we have also presented three special scholarships to German teachers to award to their students:
Julie Young, German teacher at St. Louis Park Senior High School, Minn., Dorothy Dunham, German teacher at Canon City High School, Colo., and  Karen Hamilton, German teacher at Cuyahoga Falls High School, Ohio.

We look forward to welcoming our scholarship winners this summer at Waldsee and remain keen on working with German teachers and all German learners across North America to promote German language and culture.

Have you ever played Pit-Pat? We are currently looking to fundraise enough money to purchase and import a nine-hole Pit-Pat course and permanently install it at Waldsee.  The game is an interesting combination of miniature golf and billiards.  Balls are hit with cue sticks on tables that are of varying shapes and sizes and have obstacles that make getting to the hole an interesting endeavor.

Pit-Pat (also known as Tisch-Minigolf or Hindernisbillard in some parts) can be found at local Jugendhäuser (youth clubs), campgrounds, recreation centers and resorts throughout Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.  The addition of a Pit-Pat course at Waldsee would greatly enhance the cultural authenticity of our free-time activities and provide a very unique tool for us to use when teaching German.

We are currently looking to raise around $10,000 for this project. Donations of any amount to support this project are welcome. If you would like to make a gift to the Waldsee Village Vision Fund and designate your funds for this purpose, please make your donation through our secure online form.

Familienfest in
der Natur

AATG Sprachfest to be held at Waldsee in April

Waldsee Winter Family program participants enjoyed a weekend of Deutsch und Freundschaft from February 16 – 19, 2007.  This year we took advantage of the new Waldsee BioHaus to learn about sustainable living and energy usage.  We experienced the Nahrungskette (food chain) through an exciting simulation and created a giant map of Germany’s biodiversity.  Families enjoyed a wide variety of activities, like Backen, Schneefussball (snow soccer), Bauernmalerei (folk painting) und Skulpturbauen mit Bunteisformen (sculpture with colored ice).  The adults even had an afternoon in a Wiener Kaffeehaus (Viennese café).  We had beautiful winter weather with just enough snow to go Schilaufen und Schlittenfahren (skiing and sledding).  Das Wochenende war wunderbar!  If you missed it, don’t worry: we will come together again next February.  Of course, over the summer you can bring your whole family to a Familienwoche (June 11 -16, August 13 -18 or 20 - 25.)  This is a program that all ages enjoy!





 

Waldsee will once again host the Minnesota Chapter of AATG (American Association of Teachers of German) and its Sprachfest from April 21-22. This year's theme is Feste und Feiertage (festivals and holidays). Waldsee staff and Concordia College German students will help out and provide the programmatic aspects of the weekend. For more information, or if your school would like to participate, please contact Jonathan Clark (clark@cord.edu)

Waldsee Village Weekends provide a fun and exciting immersion experience for students in grades 3-12 and their language teachers. Village Weekends are designed to enhance language learning in the classroom during the academic year. There are still three Waldsee Village Weekend opportunities this school year. Schools can still sign up for the sessions that run April 12-15, May 3-6 and May 11-13.