Jesse Tredo
Contributor
Starting after the 2008-2009 school year, sixth grade students
will no longer have the option to choose German as their foreign
language. The decision, recently made by the School Board, is based
on the declining popularity of the Academies German program, as
more and more students opt for taking either French or Spanish.
Current sixth grade students will be able to finish their scholastic
German career, as Middle school German teacher Emily Zielinski
anticipates following the class as they graduate to the high
school in the upcoming years. But they will be the last class
with this option.
The current Academy German teacher Peter Nelson, also certified
to teach Spanish, and English courses, expects to turn his complete
attention to Spanish and continue to stay with the district,
where he would like “to stay here and teach Spanish at
the high school.”
The dismissal of the German program in the Canandaigua School
District has created significant controversy among the student
body. Many who feel passionately about equal opportunities and
support the current German program are outraged at this decision.
Erik Namestnik, a tenth grade German student, referred to the
situation as a “bitter shame,” commenting that the
student body will “lack diversity because of the restriction
on what students can and cannot do.”
Namestnik also states that “they are taking the wrong
budget cuts. They should be cutting athletic funding - not scholastic
funding.”
Ian Blackwood, a sophomore Spanish student, says that he sees
a real passion in the German students. “German students
seem to care more about their language than the Spanish students
do.”
Joel Vollenweider, an eleventh grade IB German student, also
disagrees with the decision of the School Board. “I am
very sad with what they are doing.”
Despite the protests from the student body the decision to end
German in the district is set in stone and will take effect at
the end of this year.
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