October 27 - 28 (Friday and Saturday)
MaFLA Thirty-First Annual Conference
Sturbridge Host Hotel
Sturbridge, MA

To avoid disappointment, please note the following:
1. The deadline for conference registration was October 1.
2. Provision will be made for PDPs.

Stepping Out with SingLing and LingoRap
Presenter: UWE KIND
Friday, 9:00 A.M. - noon

Journalism Curriculum Using the World Wide Web
Presenter: E. St.Jean
Friday, 12:15 - 1:05

Developing Successful Strategies for Articulation and Outreach
Presenters: C. Baggs, R. Hreschak, D. VanHandle
Friday 12:15 - 1:05

Junior High/Middle School Swap Shop
Presenter: R. Webster
Friday, 3:30 - 4:15

Switch on Your Brain Power: Innovative Strategies in FL Learning/Teaching
Presenter: G. Caliendo
Saturday, 9:30 - 10:20

AATG Business Meeting
Saturday, 11:00 - 11:50

April 1997 (tentative)

Spring Meeting of the MA Chapter
Concord Academy
Topic:  German Resistance to Hitler: How to Teach Die Weisse Rose

May, 1997 (tentative)
Awards Dinner This year's awards dinner is tentatively scheduled for either May 8th or May 15th at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. DiDi Harrington and Inge Buerger will plan the event. If you would like to help, please contact DiDi at (508) 366-0433(h).

THE MaFLA LINK

Save the following dates for MaFLA professional development workshops:

November 2, 1996
Topic: Using the Internet, Part III
Presenter: Bob Trikakis
Location: Wachusett Regional High School, Holden, MA

January 18, 1997
(snow date January 25)
Topic: Using Film and Video in the Clasroom
Presenter: Susan Adams
Location: Wachusett Regional High School, Holden, MA

Cost: $25 (members)
$40 (non members)
If interested, contact Cherie Baggs, 62 Church St., Oxford, MA 01540. (508) 987-5513

SCHOLARSHIP: A scholarship for study at a Goethe Institute in Germany in the summer of 1997 will be awarded to a MaFLA member by the Goethe Institute Boston. The winner will attend a three-week program for language and culture in Germany. The scholarship will cover the cost of tuition, room and board, and participation in cultural activities. If interested, contact:
Daniel Battisti
235 State St. #214
Springfield, MA 01003
The deadline for application is December 8, 1996.

MANNHEIM SYMPHONIC YOUTH WIND ORCHESTRA: The Mannheim Symphonic Youth Wind Orchestra (ninety-three musicians ranging in age from thirteen to thirty) performed on Sept. 12th before an audience of 700 people in the Natick High School auditorium, where their performance received a standing ovation. On Sept. 13th, at the invitation of the Boston Music Education Collaborative, they performed in Boston Symphony Hall for students from the Boston Public Schools. Performers were housed for five days with families of Natick and Wellesley High School students.

TESTING PROGRAM: IMPORTANT DATES

RECHTSCHREIBREFORM

According to Ulli Arendt, Senior Examiner (AP Programs) of the ETS, the Rechtschreibreform will not have a great impact on the grading (of the AP exam) per se, since the composition, which is the major part of the writing section, is scored holistically and spelling or capitalization are (sic) only taken into account when those errors detract from the overall understanding of the writing piece. As far as the paragraph completion is concerned, I am sure the committee could come up with pieces that would not emphasize the direct address.

NEH SUMMER INSTITUTE AT UMASS AMHERST
A national NEH Summer Institute took place at the University of Massachusetts Amherst form 7 July to 3 August, 1996 on the topic Deutschland nach der Mauer: Anregungen fuer den Unterricht an amerikanischen Schulen. Twenty-five German teachers , selected nationally, attended. They represented eighteen states and schools of all sizes, both public and private. In addition to the seminar work on contemporary Germany, the participating teachers developed group pedagogical projects in the following subject areas: Afro-Deutsche, Anfaengerunterricht mit Musik and Sport, Das Dritte Reich, Ost und West, Fremde und Fremdsein, and Alltag. Materials and further information on these subjects may be obtained from the InstituteÕs directors or from the participants involved. Contact: Barton Byg, Director NEH Summer Institute, Dept. of Germanic Languages and Literatures, Herter Hall, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-3925. Tel: (413) 545 6671; FAX: (413) 545-6995; E-mail: byg@german.umass.edu.

GUEST FAMILY SOUGHT
Felix Baumeister, a sixteen-year-old student from Germany, is seeking a host family in the U.S. He would like to stay for a year and attend an American high school. His interests are tennis, ice and inline hockey, science fiction, and bicycling. If interested, contact  Dirk Baumeister, Stadtkoppel 3, 21337 Lueneburg. Tel: (0 41 31)5 30 14 FAX: (0 41 31)84 02 23

GOETHE INSTITUTE
170 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 262-6050

Courses: The Goethe Institute offers German language courses from beginning to advanced levels from September through June. Information about offerings may be obtained from the Institute.
Workshops: October 11, GAPP Seminar, 10 - 4
November 16, Mit Bildern Lernen, Presenter: Theo Scherling, noon - 4:00
Please telephone the Institute for further information and to register.

DEUTSCHES THEATERFEST 1997
The 20th annual German Theatre Festival and Competition will be held at Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. You and your students are cordially invited to participate in next yearÕs Festival, to be held on May 1, 1997. Dramatic presentations in German of 15 to 20 minutes in length will be judged by a jury consisting of secondary school teachers, members of the German and Theatre Departments at Mt. Holyoke College, and representatives from the Austrian Institute, the Goethe Institute, and the Consulate of the Federal Republic in Boston. Prizes will be awarded on the elementary, secondary, and college levels. For further information please write to Prof. DONNA VAN HANDLE, German Department, Mt. Holyoke College, So. Hadley, MA 01075 or call either (413) 536-7458 or 538-2294. E-mail: dvanhand@mtholyoke.edu

DUES
Please send $5.00 membership dues to Monika Whipple Treasurer
MA Chapter AATG
The Groton School
Farmers Row, Box 991
Groton, MA 01450.

The Chapter needs this modest sum in order to function properly.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS TO THE WINTER NEWSLETTER IS JANUARY 31, 1996. If you have any announcements to submit, send them to Virginia Powell, 24 Chestnut Hill Road, Holden, MA 01520 (508) 829-6874(h) FAX: (508) 829-4895