German American Partnership Program
The German American Partnership Program is managed in collaboration with the New York Goethe -Institut since 1982 by the Pedagogical Exchange Service (PAD) at the Secretariat of the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK, Bonn). It has become the largest partnership program for German and American schools.
Nationwide participated in 2006 a total of 10509 German and American students participated as part of 755 school partnerships of the GAPP. For the coming years increasing numbers are expected after a sharp decline in numbers of participants after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The funding for school partnership programs in the German - American student exchange, interest in financial terms, especially for the American groups, is subject to various conditions. So to an existing partnership will be continued continuously, actually reciprocal visits should be made. Since the partnership programs are mainly used to promote the teaching of German in the U.S., only schools could be considered for the program initially offering German lessons as a school subject. Meanwhile, partnerships can be established or continued to raise awareness of a "project instead of a foreign language " to the center of the exchange. Thus, a cultural exchange is possible, even if at the American High School German is not taught as a foreign language.
On both sides of the Atlantic general and vocational secondary schools to participate in the program. The German - American Partnership Program provides schools with training and information for supervising teachers and with a financial grant to be a great help in the realization of independently organized by each partner schools exchange activities.
The program not only promotes the teaching of German in the United States, but also the cross-cultural relationship between the two countries, expanding the foreign language competence of German students and a sustained improvement of relations between Americans and Germans.
Partner schools (examples)
- High Rhine -Gymnasium Waldshut and the American High School of Corvallis (Oregon ).
- Werner-von -Siemens -Gymnasium with the Upper Moreland High School in Willow Grove ( Pennsylvania) ( since 2011 ).
- Walburgisgymnasium Menden with the Technical High School and Apollo High School in St. Cloud ( Minnesota ) (since 2010).
- Max - Planck -Gymnasium with the Manatee County Schools in Bradenton (Florida ).
- School "Am widths pond " with the University School of Milwaukee (since 2011).
- Bertolt -Brecht -Gymnasium Dresden with the Spencer High School in Spencer in Clay County (Iowa ) (since 1992).
- Friedrich- Ebert -Gymnasium with the Kirkwood High School in Saint Louis (Missouri ) (since 1986).
- Thomas-Mann -Gymnasium with Grand Haven
- Christoph- Scheiner -Gymnasium with Marquette University High School