Byron Center — Students in Jessica Finkbeiner’s Byron Center High School class recently were chatting with one another about unforgettable works of art and how they’re being environmentally conscious. If the conversations all sounded like German, that’s because it was — it’s German class.
Since the 2019-20 school year, Byron Center has been one of a handful of public schools in Kent County that offers a German foreign language program.
“I have become more interested in other cultures other than just Germany,” said junior Anna Dukin, who has been taking German since ninth grade. “It’s a different way of thinking about words, (and) a different way of speaking and communicating, which opens your mind to thinking in a different way and looking at how words impact you.”
The German Connection
Michigan students are required to complete at least two years of a foreign language, or one year if taking career technical and education courses or visual or performing arts beyond the state requirements.
The most common foreign language class is Spanish. Byron Center has had a longstanding Spanish program, and several years ago students expressed an interest in having another language option, Finkbeiner said. After conducting a student survey, the district decided on German.
Finkbeiner was hired five years ago to start and build the program. She had studied German at Calvin University and spent a year in Switzerland. She also had taught in South Carolina for six years, but a desire to be closer to family in West Michigan brought her and husband back to the area.
“It was not the best time to start a new program,” Finkbeiner said, noting that it was the year the COVID pandemic made learning virtual. But even with that bumpy start, the program has grown; the district’s first AP German students graduated last year. This school year, Finkbeiner teaches five sections of German at the high school, and one eighth-grade section at the middle school.
A highly used language in business, engineering and science, German is a dominant language in Central Europe, Finkbeiner said. It also can be helpful to students to strengthen their English skills, as both languages are Germanic, sharing linguistic characteristics such as having similar root words such as English’s “house” and German’s “haus.”
Sophomore Rebecca Dim said she found studying German not only helped with her English skills but also her native language, Hakha Chin.
“I was clunky with the sentence structure,” Rebecca said. “Studying German and the sentence structure of the language, I was able to understand the sentence structure of Hakha Chin, which made me sound more fluent in the language.”
Looking for Something New & Finding a Community
The class structure usually involves students discussing a topic in German for the first couple of minutes, followed by sharing good news and then getting into the day’s assignment.
Finkbeiner’s third hour is a mix of German 3, 4 and AP students. Recently, German 3 students worked on environmental projects while the German 4 and AP students studied the Vienna artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and created their own pieces based on his colorful paintings.
Like many students in the program, Rebecca said she was looking for something different to study when deciding whether to take German or Spanish in eighth grade. Her brother had taken the German class and she was encouraged to give it a try, she said, adding she has found the program “comfy and friendly.”
Seniors Gaby Fredericksen and Vivian Lindgren are the only German AP students this school year.
“I liked the class and I like the person leading it,” Gaby said. “I feel connected with the other people as well. We are a close-knit family.”
Junior Samantha Young has so enjoyed being a part of the German program that she is on the German Club leadership team. She now helps other students, many who are not taking German, learn about German holidays and traditions such as Unity Day, marking when East and West Germany were unified in 1990, and how Germans celebrate Valentine’s Day.
The program also has expanded Anna Dukin’s world, as her family will be hosting an exchange student from Germany next school year.
“We specifically looked for someone from Germany to give me the opportunity to practice my German as they practice their English,” said Anna. “I also wanted to learn more about the country and make a connection.”
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