Cary Academy extends a warm “Willkommen” to a visiting exchange group from the Feldbergschule, our sister school in Oberursel, Germany (near Frankfurt).  Sixteen students and their teachers, Ms. Claudia Griesing and Ms. Mehtap Aslan, arrived in Cary on Saturday, March 17th, after spending three days in Washington D.C.  Head of School Mike Ehrhardt and Head of Upper School Heather Clarkson greeted the group with a brief reception on Monday morning in the Administration building lobby.  This year’s exchange, coordinated by Wendy Burgbacher, is the second between our two schools and receives support from the national German American Partnership Program (GAPP).  During their stay in Cary, the German students will visit regular classes with their CA partners, as well as participate in a series of special classes offered by volunteers from the CA faculty. The program also includes visits to downtown Raleigh and to Duke and UNC-CH, along with a trip to the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro. Our friends from the Feldbergschule will be with us until March 28th, and Cary Academy students will return the visit to Oberursel in late May/early June as part of our annual world language exchange program.

Cary Academy extends a warm welcome to a visiting exchange group from Henan Experimental High School, our sister school in Zhengzhou, China.  The group  of 16 students and one teacher arrived in Cary on February 9^th for the start of the 12th exchange between our two schools.  Head of School Mike Ehrhardt greeted the group with a brief reception on Monday morning in the Administration building lobby.  The visiting students will participate in a variety of activities during their time at CA, all organized by exchange coordinator Trish Yu.  The program includes class visits and tours of downtown Raleigh, Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill.  Our friends from China will be with us until Feb. 15^th, and then will go on to visit Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City before flying back to China.  Cary Academy students will return the visit to Zhengzhou in late May/early June as part of our world language exchange program.

Below, waiting to greet guests at RDU

Below, morning reception in the Admin Lobby

On October 23, 2017, the CA German program traveled to Broughton High School to see the German hip hop band "EinsHoch6" on their first US tour! They rocked the house full of NC students of German, and students were able to get selfies and autographs from the band following the concert. The band also conducted a workshop for German teachers last Saturday, where Frau Verhoeven learned to rap and Frau Burgbacher provided dance support. Many thanks to EinsHoch6, Deutsche Welle, and the American Association of Teachers of German for organizing and sponsoring the tour!!

Frau Verhoeven is interviewed by the Deutsche Welle media outlet, organizers of the EinsHoch6-Bandtagebuch project.

Some interesting news has come out of the Chinese program recently:

• More than 600 NC students entered the 2017 NC Chinese Speech Contest sponsored by the Confucius Institute NCSU. Seven CA students have made it to the Advanced-level Chinese Speech Contest final that will be held on April 29 at the NC State University Hunt Library Auditorium. Only 10 students total are in the final! This is the first time CA students participated in this contest. The seven CA students are: Alexandra Ellison, Ellie Johnson, Luke Johnson, Sasha Kostenko, Andrew Lee, Tyler Marshall and Robert Schellenberger.
• Sullivan Morgus (’18) has won the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) 2017-18 China full scholarship.
• Julian Sodano (’18) is applying for a four-week Chinese-intensive training program in Beijing.
• Morgus (’18), Cara Messer (’19), Luke Johnson (’19), and Krishan Guzzo (’19) are the first group of CA Chinese students who are working with a recognized Chinese teacher for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). Each will do “a live, 20-30 minute telephone conversation” with a certified ACTFL tester.