The Arlington High School German language program will be shut down after this year due to a budget crunch, and the German teacher Herr Mendro retiring. Many students are sad because their beloved German teacher is retiring, and that the position will not be filled.
AHS is needing to cut staff due to budget restraints and since Herr Mendro is retiring and cutting the German program is an easy way to not have to let other teachers go. Ideally, Principal Marilee Herman would have posted for a world language teacher and would have hired someone even if they were not a German teacher as it is not one of the most popular languages to learn but due to budget constraints this was not possible.
“The German program is one piece of that that just has gone by the wayside, you know, and it doesn’t mean we don’t want more languages back, but until more, either more student enrollment comes or the state provides different funding, it is where we’re at, ” said Principal Herman.
While the students are sad that Herr Mendro is retiring they are also happy for him as he deserves it as he has spent the last thirty years dealing with all the shenanigans that his students throw at him. He has spent so long working to teach German while making it fun and as easy as possible for high school students who are learning their second language. ‘
“He’s had a long career, so he deserves to retire. But I’ve only had this one year with him, and I kind of wish I’d had more, because he’s a really great teacher,” said Katelyn Carlson (‘28) first year German student.
With the German program shutting down there will be two language programs at AHS. Many students are not happy with this as they want more diversity with languages you can learn at AHS.
“I think the school should have more language programs, because right now we only have three language programs, ASL, Spanish, and German. And if you want to take Dutch or Swedish or Norwegian, you have to find that online, and that takes more of your time out,” said Vincent Knapp (‘27) first year German student .
It is not only the students who want more languages, administration also wants more. In the past AHS has also had a French and a Japanese program but they were both shut down due to teachers retiring and budget restraints, but administration thinks that a school this size should not be limited to two languages.
“In a comprehensive high school of our size, we should have at minimum three. Ideally, I’d like to have four languages,” said Herman.
While many students are sad that the German program is closing, it is a bit small with low enrollment rates.. There are only three German classes this year: German 1, German 2, and a mixed class of German 2 / 3 and some students are not happy about that .
“I’m in a German 3 class, and I think there’s a total of 9 students, including myself, in it. So we’re under half the class. We don’t even get a full class to ourselves,” Said Gage Oetzel (‘27), third year German student.
