Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School

New Bedford / Dartmouth / Fairhaven

Preparation – Passion – Perseverance

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The two weeks I had in Germany were absolutely amazing. It was both academically rigorous and exceptionally fun.

– Ryan Sylvia

 

Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech is proud to announce that we have paired with the Transatlantic Study Abroad program to offer an exciting new professional development opportunity for our staff. This opportunity includes traveling to Germany June 16-29, 2019 to participate in a study tour about contemporary Germany with a focus on education free of charge. This two week experience will include tours of a variety of cities including Göttingen, Geisa, Leipzig, and Berlin, as well as a variety school and museum visits, tours, and lectures. This would be an amazing and fulfilling opportunity for our faculty in all departments.  Ryan Sylvia, a teacher in the History department, attended the same study tour during this past summer.

“The two weeks I had in Germany were absolutely amazing. It was both academically rigorous and exceptionally fun,” said Ryan.  “The group of fourteen teachers I was placed with came from across the country and I found myself learning as much about other Americans as I was about Germany.  We were taken across central and East Germany focusing on the German education system as well as German history. We started our tour in Göttingen, exploring past connections between Germany and the United States. This included time at Camp Friedland, a post WWII camp for refugees still in operation, a visit to the International Tracing Service, that has and continues to help Holocaust survivors track down relatives and friends, and a visit to Bahnhof BBS II Vocational School. Furthermore, the group was given a private tour of the University of Göttingen’s library in which first editions of the 1790 US census, Moby Dick and a signed copy Benjamin Franklin’s book on electricity were all on display for us to view and handle.”

 

The trip concluded with six nights in Berlin. Berlin was the largest city on the tour and participants were able to visit the Berlin Wall, Reichstag, a former concentration camp, and the German Federal Foreign Office. “The trip was something I don’t think I could ever repeat and I feel lucky to have been given a chance to travel, learn, and meet so many interesting people,” Ryan said.

 

Participation in this tour will change the way you see yourself as an educator, the way you perceive other parts of our own country through your interactions with other educators, and create insights into German culture otherwise unattainable. For more information, please reach out to Ryan Sylvia in the Social Studies department and visit the information session on September 27th at 2:30 in room B253. 

 

For more information go to: Goethe-Institut: Experience Germany website

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