Starting this fall, students at the Oxford Christian Academy will be saying ‘hola!? and ‘guten tag!? to a new foreign language program.
The German language will be added to the current Spanish curriculum, taught by Lake Orion resident Kathy Brunner.
Brunner has been teaching junior high and serves as the school supervisor at OCA for the past four years.
After graduating from East Stroudsburg State College in Pennsylvania in 1980 with a degree in special education and a minor in Spanish, Brunner began teaching special education for a high school in Virginia. Twenty-one years later, she decided to move to Michigan.
‘My sister lives here and I was looking for a job change as well,? she said.
OCA started a Spanish curriculum just last year, and Brunner said they decided to add German due to the success of the program.
Students will take one semester of each language and will attend classes twice a week.
‘We will be covering basic conversation like asking names, counting, greeting one another,? Brunner said.
After taking two missions trips to Mexico and Panama, Brunner said she feels stronger teaching Spanish and that German will be a little more challenging, even though it runs in the family.
‘As a child, we traveled a lot because I have family in Austria and Germany,? she said.
Brunner even helped her cousin in Austria work with mentally handicapped adults and said it has helped her see the differences in teaching from each country.
She’s excited to start the new program in the fall and when Brunner’s not busy with the students, she enjoys spending lots of time and training with her many Sheltie sheep dogs.