Words: Carolyn Eichhorn
For the past 54 years, thousands of level two, three, and four high school German students have been taking the National German Test. This test is administered across the country and could have been taken anytime from December 2, 2013 to February 7, 2014 (at the teacher’s discretion). It is made up of 100 multiple choice, matching, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank questions along with a listening and viewing portion.
“The exam tests students’ skills at understanding written and spoken German,” said German teacher Dan Desmond.
From day one, Desmond was adamant that his students speak German whenever they entered his classroom and gave them a small duck when they reverted back to English. During each class, students participate in a wide variety of activities that teach the material that will be found on the test.
“Taking the exam was optional,” commented Desmond, “[But] I definitely think that it is a good idea for students to take the exam.”
Several weeks after taking the test, ten Centennial students were recognized for their outstanding achievement of having scored above the 90th percentile for the exam.
Level 2: William Boodon (95), Ashley Rous (95), and Megan Hromek (95)
Level 3: James Wirebach (97), Cassandra Bernhardt (96), Taryn Betz (96), Esben Jepsen (95), Miranda Mason (95), and Roxanne Shadmehr (93)
Level 4: Zhehao Chen (91)
In addition to those students who placed above the 90th percentile, a large number of students received awards based on their performance.
Gold Award recipients: Cassandra Bernhardt, Taryn Betz, William Boodon, Zhehao Chen, Megan Hromek, Esben Jepsen, Hannah Kempton, Miranda Mason, Ashley Rous, Roxanna Shadmehr and Jamie Wirebach.
Silver Award recipients: Lyndsay Batson, Amber Dietrich, Harrison Gertler, Katerina Havlik, Brita Hawtof, and Jason Shi.
Bronze Award recipients: Alex Booth, Maximilian Dale, Lucas Dittman, Robert Hunter, William Kraft, Amy Myers, and Audrey Schlimm.
Achievement Award recipients: Kathleen Amstad, Tyler Boettcher, Laura Brezinski, Brian Donegan, Austin Kraisser, Brandi Kraisser, Heidi Liu, Patrick Mckinnis, Christopher Neely, Casey O’Neil, Chaluim Potter, Nicholas Smith, Austin Toth, Lauren Young, and Samantha Whittemore.
