German exchange teacher provides valuable lessons for Douglas High School students

BOX ELDER, S.D. — Douglas High School students which can be taking German are discovering themselves .

When strolling down the halls of the highschool, all the way in which to Elke Kuegle’s German class, you’ll discover Maike Bielemeyer, a pupil teacher from Germany, who additionally occurs to be residing her dream.

“It’s a lot enjoyable. They giggle and so they have tales to inform. I actually love working with youngsters,” Bielemeyer mentioned.

Bielemeyer is taking a part of a program that brings 15 German lecturers to varsities across the U.S. In Mrs. Kuegle’s class particularly, that is the fourth teacher assistant within the final six years that’s helped.

But, as Bielemeyer walks from desk to desk, educating her native language, she’s doing what she loves and doing it in a spot that she’s grown to like.

“Honestly, earlier than I got here right here, I used to be like ‘What is South Dakota, the place is it? I’ve by no means heard of it, however as quickly as I acquired right here, I actually began liking it,” she mentioned.

Roughly 90 students are taking the German lessons, with all ranges of issue.

Bielemeyer says that correcting the students errors is one factor, however doing it in one other language is totally different.

“For me, it’s regular stuff, you realize? I hear when one thing is improper, however I by no means studied German and after I got here right here, I actually needed to begin fascinated by ‘how do I clarify it in German?’ I do know that it’s improper however how do I clarify it?” she mentioned.

With just some months left to go earlier than the varsity 12 months ends, many are saying that the teacher has left her mark.

“They actually are embracing that, and I feel they actually take pleasure in having one other teacher within the classroom,” Kuegle mentioned. “You know, they’re an additional set of eyes and ears, and we are able to rotate a lot extra across the classroom and assist the students about.”