PSHS
Educator Named National German Teacher of the Year
April 9, 2007
Elizabeth “Beth” Andersen Smith, 30-year Plano Senior
High School German teacher, has been recognized this school year
by the American Association of Teachers of German as Outstanding
German Educator of the Year and inducted as an Honorary Member
in the Texas Foreign Language Association.
“We’re like a family,” says
Makalae (second from right) of Beth Smith’s
German Folk Dancers. Also pictured with Ms. Smith are (l-r) German
Club Co-Presidents Victoria and Sean, and German Club Dancer Marc.
Current chair of Plano
Senior High’s Languages Other Than English Department, Ms.
Smith has spent her career teaching the German language to students
who find “devotion,” “involvement” and
even a “family feeling” as members of her beginning
and advanced German classes, German Club, German Folk Dancers and
German Honor Society.
A lifelong learner and leader among her peers, Ms. Smith presents
workshops annually for fellow educators, sharing her passion for
the German language and strengthening the delivery of curriculum
for students nationwide.
She has studied as a Fulbright Scholar
at the Goethe Institutes in Hamburg and Gottingen and has held
several high-ranking offices, including president, in organizations
such as the American Association of Teachers of German, American
Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages, Delta Kappa Gamma,
Kansas State Alumni Association, Southwest Conference on Language
Teaching
and the Texas Foreign Language Association.
Ms. Smith’s accolades
have included being named Texas State German Teacher of the Year,
Plano ISD Excellence in Teaching Awardee and winner of the Southwest
Region Advanced Placement Recognition Award.
She has authored several
books, including “Reading Across Levels,” “Preparing
for the German AP Test,” and “Topics for Vertical Teams
in World Languages and Cultures. ”One
of the highlights of her career has been sharing with her students
visits to Germany through the Participant in German American Partnership
Program.
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