One of the largest clubs at Palisades, the Verein sponsors an annual Oktoberfest. Featuring an authentic German dinner, student-made German desserts, German folk dancers, a pretzel eating contest, games and the crowning of the Polkaprinz and Polkaprinzessin, the Oktoberfest is a popular school and community event.

     Monthly activities include games, holiday celebrations, events with the Spanish and French clubs, and preparations for contests and competitions. In 2000, students will be inducted to the Palisades chapter of the German National Honor Society. The WilD Verein is the official host for our guests from the Fichte Gymnasium in Krefeld, Germany in the biannual German American Partnership Program and organizes a reception, dinner and square dance, and farewell party.

German American Partnership Program
Palisades High School / Fichte Gymnasium

     Bridges of friendship have been built since 1983 between citizens of the Palisades School District and Krefeld, Germany. In celebration of the tricentenial of the founding of Germantown, Pennsylvania by 13 Krefeld families in 1683, two Palisades students of German were selected to be members of the official Philadelphia delegation to Krefeld in the summer of 1983. The students’ positive experiences encouraged Palisades teachers of German to pursue a partnership program with Fichte Gymnasium, a university preparatory school, located in Krefeld. http://www.fichte.de

     With the support of the German American Partnership Program, Inc., Palisades and Fichte will embark on their 10^th exchange in 2001. The objectives of our bi-annual GAPP program are to foster international understanding between our communities, to provide family and school experiences, to improve language proficiency, and to expand cultural appreciation. In the past two decades, more than 400 Fichte and Palisades students have benefited from the experience.

     10^th, 11^th and 12^th grade Palisades students currently enrolled in Level 3,4 or Advanced Placement German are eligible to apply. Student selection is based on the student’s academic and citizenship record, performance in German courses, maturity, and application evaluation.

     By-products of the four-week exchange have been subsequent contact and independent visits of students, families and faculty to host families. Semester and year stays at the partner school have evolved as well as increased communication between students, especially via E-mail. Numerous Palisades graduates have majored and minored in German and have initiated their own GAPP exchanges.

     Palisades School District’s German exchange continues to flourish. Planning for 2001 is underway. For additional information contact:
Carol Harder
GAPP Coordinator
Palisades High School

Holocaust Symposium

     Palisades students of French, German and Spanish compete in the Bucks County Oral Proficiency Contest sponsored by the Association of Teachers of Foreign Language in Bucks County. In 1999, six of the ten students participating won awards.

     32 highly competitive French, German and Spanish students participate in the Rider University Foreign Language Forensic Tournament in Lawrenceville, New Jersey every May. The tournament features 1600 students from 80 schools in intermediate and advanced level competition in individual and group events. The Palisades team has in recent years won several first, second and third place plaques, which recognize the school with the most wins.

Congress-Bundestag Scholarship

     Two Palisades High School students of German have received the prestigious Congress-Bundestag Scholarship in 1998 and 1999. Only 300 students in the United States are selected for this experience each year. Benefiting from the full scholarship to study and live in Germany for one year, the two Palisades graduates are presently continuing their study of German at the university level. This year, a Palisades junior has just been informed of semi-finalist status for the 2000-2001 award.

Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache

     Since 1987 twenty Palisades students of German have been awarded the ZDaF certificate. Administered at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, the four-hour test assesses the student’s listening and reading comprehension, understanding of structure and vocabulary, written expression and oral proficiency. The international examination is sponsored by the Goethe Institute.