Awards

Our members actively promote the learning of world languages and cultures in their German classrooms and communities. Many of them have been recognized for their leadership, initiative, service to our profession, and impact on students at home and abroad. The WI-AATG Distinguished German Educator Award is featured below as well as other awards garnered by our members.

WI-AATG Distinguished German Educator Award 2023

Each year the Wisconsin Chapter of AATG bestows upon one of its members the Distinguished German Educator Award. Recipients of this award have demonstrated over their careers excellence in the teaching of the language and culture of the German-speaking world, advocacy for teaching, learning, and professional development, professional contribution to the profession, fostering positive relationships, and service to the organization.

(Click here for past recipients.)

2023 Carley Goodkind

2022 Bernadette van Willingen

2021 Sabine Beirold

2020 Siggi Piwek

2019 Bobbette Leu-Timmermann

2018 Helena Curtain

2017 Martina Lindseth

2016 Mark Wagner

2015 Charles James

2014 Jim Pfefferle

2013 Karen Pfefferle

2012 John Pustejovsky

Carley Goodkind

Distinguished German Educator

2023

The Wisconsin AATG is proud to present the 2023 Distinguished German Educator Award to Greenfield High School German teacher, Carley Goodkind.

Carley has worn many German "hats" over the years. Perhaps you know her from the WI-AATG Speaking Contest, FLESfest, as a frequent WAFLT presenter, at UW Madison‘s German Day, or at one of the many other initiatives. She is incredibly deserving of this honor and we are proud of your contributions to our profession! Herzlichen Glückwunsch! 💐

(To read the full introduction, click here!)

The Wisconsin AATG is proud to present the 2023 distinguished German educator award to Greenfield high school German teacher, Carley Goodkind. For those of us who may not yet have gotten the chance to get to know her at the speaking contest, FLESfest, as a frequent WAFLT presenter, at UW Madison‘s German Day, or at one of the many other initiatives she’s been part of over the years, I’m happy to give some background that will explain why she is so very deserving of this honor.

Carley’s teaching career dates back to the last century. Actually, back to the last millennium! She spent her first six years at Bradford high school in Kenosha, where she grew the German program from an initial part-time to a full-time position.

In 2005, Carley excepted a position at Greenfield high school, where she has been teaching ever since. Her Greenfield students, colleagues and admin alike benefit from her passion for creating a highly engaged classroom and for encouraging global thinking within a local learning environment.

As German teachers, we’re all familiar with what it means to “wear many hats,” but this expression describes Carley, especially well. Beyond classroom teaching, Carley wears the “hat” of a trusted advisor to students, both within German National Honor Society and the Global Scholars program. She has also coordinated both real life and virtual exchanges for Kenosha and Greenfield students. Other highlights for her students include Chicago trips to Goethe Institut and the Christkindlmarkt, concert visits, and a yearly gingerbread house competition tradition inspired by former German teachers Trudy Roesch, and Kathy Neumeier.

All of us, and our students have benefited from Carley’s hat as the coordinator of the yearly speaking contest for southeast, Wisconsin, and her money Saturdays spent as a state level contests judge.

As WAFLT members, we are so lucky that her next “hat” is as a generous presenter at this very conference. In fact, Carley has presented at WAFLT 20 times. TWENTY! Doing the math that means she has presented a session darn close to every year since her career started. She is also very much involved in WAFLT planning the whole year through. Her past titles have included executive board member, secretary, program committee, member, language portfolio development team member, new visions and action task force member, and most recently, Summer Institute planning committee member. Within Wisconsin’s AATG, Carley has also served as secretary.

Some of us may not have known of her “hat” as an author. She has contributed multiple articles to the WAFLT E-voice newsletter and has co-authored DPI projects, including the sample units “Food in our world, and in our lives,” and the revised Wisconsin standards for World, Languages in 2019. When Carley brings home her Distinguished German Educator plaque, it will certainly be in good company as she has received many honors for her dedication to teaching over the last 2 1/2 decades. Her past awards have included the Frank M. Grittner new teacher award in 2002, the Kenosha unified school district’s certificate for outstanding leadership, the 2015 Klett-Langenscheidt award for outstanding accomplishments in the teaching of German, the WAFLT teacher of the year in 2020, and the Wisconsin DPI’s Global Educator of the year in 2021. Please join me in a warm round of applause in appreciation and congratulations to your 2023 distinguished German educator, Carley Goodkind.

WI-AATG Präsidentschaftspreis

This award is presented biennially to the outgoing past president in recognition and gratitude for their six-year leadership commitment and outstanding service to WI-AATG as vice president, president, and past president.

Jeffrey Dyer, President, 2020-2022, was presented the award at the 2023 Business and Networking Meeting at the WAFLT state convention in Appleton. Herzlichen Glückwunsch!

Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers - State Awards

WAFLT Distinguished Language Educator

WAFLT’s highest recognition, the Distinguished Language Educator Award, may be conferred annually on an individual of the language teaching profession who has demonstrated long-term achievement and service to WAFLT and to the profession – locally, statewide, regionally, and/or nationally. (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

2016 Linda Havas

2014 Karen Luond Fowdy

2013 Marge Draheim

2011 Sylvester Kreilein

2008 Kyle Gorden

2004 Charles J. James

2001 Mark Seiler

1994 Patrick Raven

1991 Helena Curtain

1981 Frank Grittner

WAFLT Recognition of Merit

The Recognition of Merit may be presented annually to individuals who have demonstrated excellence in teaching or who have made significant contributions to the language teaching profession. (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

2020 Jeffrey Dyer

2019 Ellen Boldt

Stephanie Krenz

2018 Jeanne Schueller

2017 Kyle Gorden

Melanie Lasee

2016 Jolene Wochenske

2015 Dr. Michael Koch

2014 John Pustejovsky

Bobbette Leu-Timmermann

2013 Siggi Piwek

2008 Mark Wagner

Carley Goodkind

2004 Sabine Beirold

Linda Havas

2000 Karen Pfefferle

1996 Margaret Draheim

1994 Karen Fowdy

1993 Charles James

1990 Sylvester Kreilein

WAFLT Professional Service Award

The WAFLT Professional Service Award may be presented annually to recent retirees who have served both the profession and their students in providing quality world language education. (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

2022 Bobbette Leu-Timmermann

2021 John Pustejovsky

2017 Sabine Beirold

Kit Chase

2016 Kyle Gorden

Charles James

2011 Karen Fowdy

Karen Pfefferle

2009 Margaret Draheim

2003 Hans-Peter Kohlhoff

2000 Gerhard Rauscher

Trudi Roesch

WAFLT Frank M. Grittner New Teacher Award

The Frank M. Grittner award honors Frank Grittner, a tireless promoter of high standards for language teacher preparation in our schools as the Wisconsin State Foreign Language supervisor from 1961 to 1991.

The WAFLT Frank M. Grittner New Teacher Award may be conferred annually on an individual new to the language teaching profession with one to three years experience who has demonstrated excellence in teaching and leadership in the promotion of language learning and international understanding; has given service to school, community, and state organizations; and has shown commitment to regional and national organizations. (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

2016 Heidi Kolodziej

2012 Daniel Tess

2008 Stephanie Draheim

2006 Bobbette Leu-Timmermann

2003 Sonja Rode

2002 Carley Goodkind

WAFLT Future Language Teacher Award

The WAFLT Future Language Teacher Award may be conferred annually on students in teacher-training programs who have shown exceptional promise and potential to become outstanding world language educators. (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

2017 Mary Grace Floeter

1996 Melanie Froelich Lasee

1992 Jennifer Redmann

American Association of Teachers of German - National Awards

AATG Outstanding German Educator

Recognizes excellence in teaching and outstanding contributions to the German teaching profession. Awards are presented to an elementary, middle school or junior high school educator, a high school educator, and a post-secondary educator. (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

2014 Charles J. James

AATG Friend of German Award

Recognizes exemplary leadership in the advocacy of German and German language education at the local, regional, or national level. Awards are presented to an individual or organization outside the German teaching profession, as well as to a German educator. (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

1999 Deutscher Sprach- und Schulverein (DSSV)

AATG German Centers of Excellence

AATG’s German Centers of Excellence program identifies and honors excellence at all levels of instruction K-16. The designation is presented to a well-established and growing German program with strong support from the administration, colleagues, alumni, parents, and students. (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

2015 University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire

2000 Milwaukee German Immersion School

Checkpoint Charlie Foundation Teacher Award

The award, recognizing outstanding teachers of German who strengthen intercultural understanding, is presented annually to one K–12 and one college/university AATG member. Eligible recipients were not born or raised in a German-speaking country. (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

2021 Jonathan Wipplinger

AATG / Goethe-Institut Outstanding GAPP Coordinator Award

This award recognizes German educators who provide opportunities for their students to study abroad on short-term exchanges to Germany through the German American Partnership Program (GAPP). (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

2021 Jeffrey Dyer

AATG Certificate of Merit

This award honors achievement in furthering German teaching in the US. German teachers may be recognized for outstanding teaching, creative and successful activities promoting German, innovative curriculum and successful course design, successful interdisciplinary cooperation, and/or significant contributions to the profession. (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

2023 Bobbette Leu-Timmermann

2021 Mark Wagner

2020 Karolina May-Chu

2020 John Pustejovsky

2012 Sigurd Piwek

1999 Charles J. James

1998 Karen Luond Fowdy

ISE Language Matters

Recognizes a high school teacher of German for providing immersion experiences and motivating students to speak German outside the classroom. Supported by Intercultural Student Experiences. This award was last given in 2015. (Click for WI-AATG recipients.)

2009 Margaret Draheim

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