(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – Twelve Kentucky educators recently participated in a study trip of Germany designed to increase their awareness of how the country has changed and developed since the end of World War II.
The two-week study trip was sponsored and funded by Atlantik-Brücke, a transatlantic institution whose members are dedicated to providing networking, information and education.
The 12 educators who participated in the study trip are:
- Patricia F. Scott -- Bowling Green High
- Lesley G. Mills -- Dawson Springs High
- Nureka V. Duncan -- Bryan Station High, Fayette Co.
- William B. Pope -- Henry Clay High, Fayette Co.
- Paula Azzarito -- Paul Laurence Dunbar High, Fayette Co.
- Amy Galloway and Margaret G. Van Hook -- Tates Creek High, Fayette Co.
- William R. Daniel, Jr. -- Jefferson Co.
- Shannon M. Kederis -- duPont Manual High, Jefferson Co.
- Jay Todd Blavatt -- Newport High
- Robin Chandler, Kentucky Department of Education
- Mark A. Kopp, Kentucky Department of Education
Each study trip is preceded by a preparation seminar and followed by wrap-up sessions. The participants also are honored and recognized as Atlantik-Brücke Fellows upon completion of the trip.
Since 1989, the annual two-week trips have been organized for teachers from Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, New York, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Dakota, California and the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).
These informational trips to Germany concentrate on giving instructors who teach about the Holocaust first-hand knowledge about modern Germany and how younger generations deal with the Holocaust. While in Germany, American teachers meet with their German counterparts, high school students, political figures, representatives of minority groups and business and trade union leaders, which gives them a unique look into Germany today. They also experience everyday life in Germany, visiting schools, universities, political institutions, corporations, museums, Holocaust memorials and sites of resistance against National Socialism.
The itinerary for this trip included visits to the cities of Rendsburg, Kiel, Flensburg, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Dresden, Frieburg, Weimar and Berlin.
Atlantik-Brücke began in 1952 and has become the key transatlantic institution in Germany. It has developed many important programs that encompass a broad spectrum of political, economic and social topics, involving top-level decision-makers from politics and business, high ranking military officers, well-known academics, teachers, high school students and journalists from both sides of the Atlantic.
More information about the institute is available here.
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