It has been seven years since Copley High School has had a German Club presence, and that trend came to end during this past school year. The reinstated German Club, which includes current and former members of the school’s German program, is led by Chancellor Casey Boyd and Vice Chancellor Lauren Cremers, both rising seniors. 

During the 2021-2022 school year, German Club 2.0 provided Copley High School with parties, cultural celebrations and educational opportunities. The club brought back the annual Oktoberfest, Winter Parties and Karnival celebrations, while also promoting the German program to the students of Copley Middle School. The club planned a day where students learn how to write German calligraphy, as well as an end of the year Spaghetti Eis (ice cream) party.

The German Club kicked off its comeback at the beginning of the school year with a celebration of Germany’s world-famous festival: Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is a festival that has been going on since its origin as a royal wedding celebration in Munich in 1810. It takes place at the end of September every year in Germany, and the German Club decided to bring this festival to Copley High School by hosting lunch celebrations on September 30th. Tickets were sold during all lunch mods, and those who bought tickets were invited, on the day, to Copley’s Bistro 81, where food was cooked and served by the resident culinary students. There were tables of desserts made and brought in by members of the club. There were plentiful amounts of bratwurst and apfelstrudel to go around for all three lunch mods. The club members set up decoration and music to emulate the traditional atmosphere that is so often found at the festivals in Germany. Chancellor Casey Boyd wore a costume of lederhosen, as is so often done at Oktoberfest, to exemplify the spirit of the holiday. Each mod ended with a trivia Kahoot about Oktoberfest. 

Winter holidays like Christmas are celebrated across Germany with a wide array of local traditions. Chancellor Boyd’s favorite was the Weihnachtsgurke (Christmas pickle), leading to the German Club's winter party being ‘pickle-themed.’ The folklore behind the Weihnachtsgurke is that a pickle or pickle-shaped ornament is hidden somewhere (usually somewhere on the Christmas tree) and whoever is the first to find the pickle will have good luck going into the following year. The high school German room was decorated with a string of pickle ornaments and multicolored and pale white fairy lights.

In January, the German Club began the new year with a promotional campaign for the district-wide German program. At the high school there was a presentation in the auditorium during Academic Learning Lab that included a Kahoot and prize bags of German candies and chocolates. After the presentation members of the club handed out complimentary bags of Haribo gummy bears. Continuing the campaign, the club took a field trip to Copley-Fairlawn Middle School, divided into groups and gave presentations to the students during each grade’s flex period. The presentations included fun facts about German culture and German language and events to look forward to during next year’s program, including the Haufbrauhaus trip and other annual parties that German students and German Club host. 

In February, the German Club began planning the next party: Karnival. Similarly to the famous Mardi Gras, Karnival is a celebration correlating with Fat Tuesday, or Faschingsdienstag. Participants followed German festival traditions by dressing up in pirate costumes, traditional German attire and even Party City boa scarves. The German room was decorated with stringed lights, multicolored balloons and paper ribbons, and organized into sections with minute-to-win-it games, a table of donuts and music reminiscent of the music played at the German festivals.

The German Club is looking toward next year as it plans for the annual Oktoberfest, Winter and Karnival celebrations, as well as hosting a Brat Fest. Typical activities at a Brat Fest include a brat eating contest, a parade, polka music and fireworks. The club is also hoping to bring back the annual Haufbrauhaus trip, which was canceled in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The field trip would be for all German students at Copley and surrounding schools. Students would take buses to the Cleveland Hofbrauhaus and enjoy traditional German food, served by a wait staff in lederhosen, while a live band plays traditional German music on accordions and all sorts of other instruments. There is also the potential for more exchange opportunities for students in Ohio and Germany next year. 

As the school year draws to a close, the German Club will celebrate this year's achievements and look forward to all the opportunities to come.