Deutsche Schule Corvallis
Welcome message from the Director Corvallis, August 2022
Dear friends and visitors,
On behalf of the entire German school community, it is my pleasure to welcome you to our website and to our school. Our non-profit language immersion program “Deutsche Schule Corvallis” is an educational program focusing on introducing German language and culture to the children, youth, and adults in our area.
In 2012, we became an independent, small non-profit organization with weekly programs and cultural activities for children. With the help of our community, we were able to organize a German Christmas concert, host a German theater for children, and create conversation opportunities for all. We offered classes at the Corvallis Waldorf School, and at the Montessori School in Corvallis.
Starting Fall 2016, we began to offer courses 3 times per week, and our new programs came to life: 1) the Parent-Child class for 2–4-year-old children learning first songs, rhymes and German words with their parents, and 2) the adult classes.
In 2017, we organized our first summer camp and our first summer term classes. The year 2018 brought our new library to life that provides reading and listening opportunities for children and adults in this area – we have over 600 books and 200 DVD to share with all who have an interest. Contact us if you would like to become a library member.J
In 2018, we also found a new location and started offering all classes at one place. You will find us from now in the Education wing at the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan (on the 35th and Harrison) in Corvallis. Our library is located at the same place and open during the time of our classes. You may have visited us or our Berlin Wall exhibit and lectures in the Fall of 2019.
Just before the COVID, we became a stable school with about 80 students enrolled. During the academic year 2019-2020, we taught children classes and our adult classes (Levels A1-A2-B1-B2) 3 times a week. In Spring 2020, due to COVID pandemics, however, we had to close our regular classrooms. We did not give up our program, and we started offering online classes for children and adults. During the summer 2020, we had a 5-week long online program for children, and a summer 10-week long term for our adult classes.
The year 2020-21 and COVID did not, unfortunately, allow us to return to the classrooms; but we were able to strengthen our online program by building computer-based materials and activities. We were happy to see our students to return to our summer crafting to the classroom, when the COVID numbers were low enough to do that.
Last academic year 2021-22 finally brought us back to the classroom! Although regular classes were still zooming, we provided monthly crafting activities in-person, had a Lantern walk in November and restarted full in-classroom classes in the Spring 2022. Summer 2022 brought also back our summer camp, summer in-person classes for adult and children. (How wonderful to see everyone in person again! )
The 2022-23 academic year plans:
We are proud to say that thanks to our community, we now have taught German for 10 years in Corvallis and support additional cultural activities and events. Please see our current calendar for more information.
As we grow and establish our program, we would like to be able to sustain our current programs and add more opportunities for the community to learn about German culture, music and language: open new classes, bring German cultural events to area schools, make small scholarships available to children and youth, organize cultural events in our area (puppet masters, singers, films, Festival or Market stands, Christmas Market, events, etc.), and support the growth of the school by inviting more faculty with a strong educational background to join our mission.
Learning foreign languages and cultures has an important role in an increasingly connected world. It not only enables us to appreciate differences in others, but also to better understand ourselves.
Take a look at our website or our Facebook, see the calendar to find activities for your family and friends, but please come also to visit us in person or via ZOOM in our classes, learning activities and events. Become a stable part of our community.
Sincerely,
Ludmila Schuster & the DSC Team
Ludmila Schuster Provaznikova, Ph.D.
Director, Deutsche Schule Corvallis
German Affiliate Faculty, World Languages and Cultures, Oregon State University
deutscheschulecorvallis@gmail.com | 541-908-9210
Location: Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan, 333 NW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333