During the spring semester of the 2025 – 2026 school year, Natalie Aungst and Eliza Myer were among a group of Penn Manor students that were recognized for their performances on the AATG National German Exam.
The exam was proctored by Frau Smith during the German 3 class in the fall semester and consisted of multiple choice questions from various audio, videos, and readings.
Natalie and Eliza placed in the top 10% of those that took the test and received a gold medal. As gold medal recipients, they could qualified to apply for a spot on a trip to Germany.
Both students submitted an application and were interviewed by a panel of three people via Zoom to attend the trip to Germany over the summer.
“I was pretty nervous going into it [the interview], but it ended up being a lot less stressful than I was expecting,” said Eliza. “The interview was completely in German, but mostly questions about our interests, home, and why we wanted to go to Germany.”
After being nominated by their chapter, Natalie and Eliza had to complete the Avant STAMP test to assess listening, reading, writing, and speaking in German for group placement.
The group of 10 students and a chaperone were in Germany from June 17 through July 7. For the first two weeks of the trip they were in Paderborn, where they lived with host families and attended a local school. They met the mayor of Paderborn and went on a field trip to the city of Cologne, in addition to some other local sightseeing.
They attended some classes with their host siblings studying subjects from art and theater to German and chemistry. They were expected to speak in German throughout the entire trip, even with the fellow trip attendees.
Berlin was the next stop where they joined a group of Greek, Romanian, and Italian students. The group visited the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburger Tor, many museums, and participated in a silent disco walking tour of Museumsinsel. One of the days in Berlin, the students participated in a Question and Answer session with four members of the German Bundestag.
Both Penn Manor students noted how taking this trip initially put them out of their comfort zone, but they easily settled in and enjoyed the experiences they were able to have while on the trip.