German teacher, Nan Bergen, has involved her students in an international soccer league. The organization that is running this is called The Goethe Institut. This organization has students guess the results of certain soccer matches based from the Bundesliga (The National German Soccer League) and receive points on whether they had guessed it right or not.

“My students have been following these teams for the last 15 years and everyone in my class follows a team so it just seemed like a fun way to get them involved outside of school,” Bergen said.

Bergen has had her students follow the league for years but, just this year they have entered in as a team and are competing for the top spot in the organization. Currently, they are placed at number six. Their team is called the Neustadt Monarchie, which means literally New Town, and they are tied for sixth place. Some students are more involved than others including sophomore Daniel Buller and junior Andy Deckert.

“We didn’t have a choice but to participate but then it turned out to be fun because we got to follow the teams and we get to know who is winning,” Junior Andy Deckert said.

Students fill out quizzes in German to research, then predict the outcome and scores of a certain match. Once you make it into the top five, you are considered part of a Champions League.

“It (Goethe Institut) helps with both German speaking and learning about the German culture,” Bergen said.

Bergen is able to read off questions about the league and has students answer in German. Students spend about 30 minutes each day in class for research projects, they research for the league once every four weeks. Students are now able to be included in and outside of school for their passion for foreign languages.