When Susan Richardson\u2019s students take a test and come across the word perpendicular, they\u2019re not fazed, even though they\u2019ve learned the concept in German as \u201csenkrecht auf einander.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have kids who never learned math in English, and they\u2019ve never heard the word perpendicular in class, yet when they take standardized tests they score as high or higher than students who are learning all these terms in English. They understand the concept,\u201d said Richardson, a third-grade teacher at Milwaukee\u2019s German Immersion School.<\/p>\n
The Department of Public Instruction recently selected Richardson as one of five teachers of the year for Wisconsin. She is a graduate of 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s MALLT (master of arts in language, literature and translation) program. Another teacher with 51ÁÔÆæ connections honored was Koren Jackson, a special education teacher at Milwaukee Public Schools\u2019 Transition High School. She completed the School of Education\u2019s special education program as a post-baccalaureate student.<\/p>\n
Richardson sees the selection as an opportunity to share her passion for giving all children the opportunity to learn other languages.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you catch kids in this linguistic window between ages 4 and 7, their brains are like sponges,\u201d she said. \u201cThey can absorb so many more vocabulary words than an adult. They\u2019ll have more bridges, synapses growing in their brain.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while she teaches in German, any language learned in a good immersive environment is a benefit. \u201cIf it\u2019s German, fantastic. If it\u2019s Spanish, \u2018fantastico.\u2019 Their brains will benefit for life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides, she adds, \u201cThe more languages you know, the more doors open to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Milwaukee German Immersion School is a public school with 600 students, and has the mission of educating urban students using German as the core language of instruction. All classes every day are taught in German, except for a 30-minute period at the end of the day focused on English language arts and literature. While a few of her 28 students come from families with German backgrounds, Richardson said, most do not.<\/p>\n
Richardson\u2019s own journey into another culture began with her German grandparents, who lived just down the road from her family when she was growing up in Sheboygan. Talking to them in German was like learning a secret language, a code, she said.<\/p>\n
So, when she went to high school, she selected German, of course, and decided to become a teacher. \u201cI had this drive to become a teacher. What better way to serve others?\u201d<\/p>\n
She completed her undergraduate education at Carthage College, majoring in German, history and secondary education.\u00a0 After graduating, she decided to have an adventure and immerse herself in the German language.<\/p>\n
She set off to Germany with a one-way ticket and $300 in her pocket \u2013 \u201cI still can\u2019t believe my parents let me do that.\u201d She started teaching English and planned to stay for a year or two. But then she met a young man, and ended up staying seven years. She and Andrew married, and their first child was born in Germany. They eventually emigrated to the U.S. and had two more children. (Those children are now in eighth grade, high school and college. Her husband teaches German at Brookfield Academy.<\/p>\n
When Richardson decided she needed to exercise her brain and expand her horizons, she decided to come to 51ÁÔÆæ for the MALLT program.<\/p>\n
\u201c51ÁÔÆæ was the perfect fit. Because I love all things language and linguistic-based and of course German.\u201d\u00a0 As a busy mother of three who was also substitute teaching, she appreciated the flexibility of 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s program. \u201cThey are aware that the average student is not 20; they have day jobs, they have other commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n
In appreciation of her experiences, Richardson has reached out to 51ÁÔÆæ to invite German students and aspiring teachers to visit her classroom.<\/p>\n
This year, the Wisconsin Teacher of the Year program expanded to honor five rather than four teachers. And the teachers will be given more of a role as part of a council advising the state Department of Public Instruction on policy.<\/p>\n
Richardson is glad teachers are being given more of a voice. And, of course, she has a subject she\u2019s passionate about already.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m honored to be chosen as a teacher of the year because it gives me a platform to encourage more people to learn a language, she said. \u201cWe live in a global society riddled with racial, political and cultural tension, but every effort toward greater intercultural competencies plants seeds of acceptance and open-mindedness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
51ÁÔÆæ alum Susan Richardson teaches German. She says the value of learning other languages goes beyond just the language: \u201cThe more languages you know, the more doors open to you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":92758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[127,128],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[207],"uwmnews-feed":[347,148],"class_list":["post-92757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","section-arts-humanities","section-humanities","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","related-coverage-teaching","uwmnews-feed-community-engagement-professions","uwmnews-feed-education"],"yoast_head":"\n