On Jan. 30, 31, and Feb. 1, German teacher Frau Ivanyi went with several students in her 3-5 level German classes to Estes Park for German Immersion Weekend. Joining them were students from eight other schools, including Rocky Mountain High School, Thompson Valley High School, Loveland High School, Boulder High School, Cherry Creek High School, Liberty Commons High School, Shining Mountain High School, and Ponderosa High School, adding up to a total of 105 students participating. This was a retreat that lasted two weeks and was an opportunity for students interested in the German language and culture to connect and learn from each other.

In addition to encouraging the consistent use of German, students had a lot of hands-on activities to fill their time. Sophomore Carla Lopez reflects on a particularly large event in which students worked on Grimm Brother’s fairytales and created their own videos. “We had to build a German fairytale film, we had a big scavenger hunt… it was a lot of fun,” said Lopez. “We had roller skating and ice skating. We bonded over falling on our butts.” The main reason for Lopez’s excitement for the event was the other kids who went. “[The kids who went were] ‘cool people’. You could talk to anyone, really.”

Lopez heard of the event from her teacher, Frau Ivanyi, who believed the event to be an important step in the students’ learning. “Students are given an opportunity to use their German outside of the classroom… [The students] have fun while improving their German [and] made friends from other schools,” said Ivanyi.

Upon going, Lopez realized, “I learned that I needed to improve my German. I’d really recommend it. I’m definitely going again next year.”