Liebe TCGIS Gemeinschaft! / Dear TCGIS community,

Thank you to the students, parents, teachers, and community members who joined us on Tuesday for the Lest We Forget exhibit event. It was an honor to host fiber artist Sandra Brick to hear her speak about her collaboration on the exhibit with her husband Fred Amram and to learn about his increasing desire over the course of his life to speak about his experiences as a Holocaust survivor and about the need to resist prejudice and hatred wherever it exists. 

In addition to the exhibit event, Sandra also worked closely last week with students. She met with 6th-grade art students and helped them work on their own art projects based on one of the panels from the exhibit. That same day she gave the presentation Fred had prepared to our combined 8th-grade advisory classes last week. Students listened with rapt attention as she shared details of Fred’s life, of the way Germany developed into a dictatorship that made the Holocaust possible, and ways that our own country’s racial segregation laws informed that dark time in Germany’s past. Throughout her presentation, Sandra reminded our students, as Fred would have, that what they do matters, that their choices can make a difference. 

The Lest We Forget exhibit will be up in our atrium through March 31 and will be open to the public this Sunday, March 26, from 4-6 pm.

Herzlich

Kirsten

Note: If you don't see the calendar at the end of your Rundbrief, the message has been clipped and you must click "View entire message" to read the entire Rundbrief. Danke!

The board meets in Room 100 at 6:30 pm tonight; join in-person or listen via Zoom. We will recognize the History Day students advancing to state, the English teachers, and judge volunteers, the staff’s sunshine cmte, and Tyler Norris Taylor and Rachael Schlee for their Indigenous Land Acknowledgement Talks. The agenda includes the opportunity for public comment, the Executive Director’s report, and a verbal summary of the Director’s midyear review. The SY23-24 calendar, the Quarterly Report, and a proposal for financial operations development is on the agenda for approval. All board meetings include updates from the six committee chairs. The board packet is available here and the Zoom link here.

This is a BIG week!

The Auction is happening NOW and it closes Saturday night. You don't want to miss these amazing items and events!

The Kid's Art Auction opens Saturday morning at 10am! An email will go out as well.

This is your last chance to get Maskenball tickets! It's all happening on Saturday, the 25th. We'd love for you to join us!

One last thing - the Spring Plant Sale is happening too! TCGIS's store code is 550.

Conference Dates:

• Thursday, March 30th, 4-7:30: all meetings are in-person (Elementary, Middle School, Special Education)
• Friday, March 31st, 8:10-3:30: all meetings are held virtually via Google Meet (Elementary, Middle School, Special Education)

To access your conference schedule, please login to the conference scheduler here and use the master password: Crocus2023, along with your password. Please contact the front office at info@tcgis.org with questions.

This May, the community will elect three directors to the TCGIS School Board. Based on the current board composition and TCGIS bylaws, directors elected through the upcoming election must include at least one parent and at least one teacher. The third director can be a parent, a teacher, or a community member. Each will be elected to serve a three year term that begins in June. We seek any interested persons, especially those with experience in financial compliance, education, board governance, legal matters, management and leadership, and marketing and development. 

If you are interested in serving or would like to nominate someone to serve, all details and forms are available here. You do not need to be nominated to apply. All nominations and applications are due by April 10.

By serving on the School Board, YOU can help our school, strengthen connections within our community, and make important decisions that affect the future.

Summer Camp registration is OPEN. We have many spots available in the following Camps (all are Grades 3-6)*:

• Week 1: Harry Potter , Sport
• Week 4: Fussball , Math
• Week 5 : Film 101, Harry Potter
• Week 6: Studio Art
• Week 7: Spielen und Spielen

*Minimum of 15 participants per camp needed in order to run it!

There are free rapid antigen (Binax) tests available for families to use before, during, & after spring break! Please come to the office to pick up a box or two (each box contains 2 tests), or send an email to info@tcgis.org to have them sent home with your child(ren).

The Diversity & Belonging Committee is looking for leaders and members who are interested in the LGBTQ+ and Modern Family affinity groups.



• LGBTQ+: This group is designed to be a space of support for parents and guardians who are either part of the LGBTQ+ community themselves or have children who identify as LGBTQ+. If you are interested to share experiences, build community or are looking for guidance as a member of this group or would even like to help lead it, please contact Michael White at mwhite@tcgis.org.
• Modern Family: This group is designed to be a space for single parent, foster, and blended families to share experiences, build community and provide guidance to each other. If you are interested in becoming a member or even would like to lead this group, please contact Elizabeth Zehnpfennig at ezehnpfennig@tcgis.org.

Thank you for supporting the Girl Scouts at TCGIS at their cookie booth last week. Cookie season is winding to a close and there will be one more opportunity to stock up on your favorites as the troop tries to clear its inventory. There will be a booth on Friday, March 24, 3:45-5:00. Look for them in the lobby, or if it's a beautiful day, outside near the parking lot. Cookies are $5 a box. Cash, check, credit, and Venmo accepted.

Our TCGIS used book fair will be on April 19 & 20 from 3-5 P.M. It is open to the public and will take place in the school atrium. Expect to find German books of all levels - from board books and first readers to novels and “vintage” books. There will be books in the English language, as well! All items are

sold on a donation basis, and credit card or cash is accepted. The funds raised benefit the TCGIS library.

Do you have books (in English or German) that you would like to donate to the fair? The school will be accepting donation drop-offs starting April 10. Donated materials must be free of mold, tears, or other damage. Contact Frau Zimmerman to coordinate a drop-off time.

Parents/guardians of elementary students are invited to read a book in your student's class throughout the month of March. If interested, please get in touch with your teacher. If you're not sure about a book, your teacher or our library coordinator Frau Zimmerman may have one.

The City of Saint Paul has declared a 1-sided residential street winter parking ban will be in effect beginning on Friday, March 10 at 8 a.m. and will be in effect until April 15, or earlier if the city determines the street conditions allow the ban to be lifted. 

Parking is not allowed on even-numbered sides of residential streets. In Saint Paul, the even-numbered side of the street is typically the south or east side of the street. Residents and visitors must park on the odd side of residential streets and follow all posted parking rules on arterial (main) streets. www.stpaul.gov/1sideparkingmap

Help us prepare for the 2023-2024 school year by completing our re-enrollment survey! Please click here to fill out the survey by March 24th. If you have more than one student at TCGIS, please submit one form for every child in your family who is currently in grades K-7.

Filling out this form is not required in order to attend TCGIS next year but it is extremely helpful for the school. We gather information about returning and withdrawing students to plan our class compositions for the next year. We appreciate your participation; thank you in advance! 

With lots of families on vacation as we approach spring break, this is a quick reminder that make-up work is provided to students after they return from an absence, not in advance. The Family Handbook states, "Assignments will be given to the student upon their return. The student will have as many days as they were gone to turn in the completed work, with a week being the maximum time given." There is more information on page 15 of the handbook.

Board Meeting Thurs., March 23 - 6:30PM, Room 100; Zoom

Finance & Facilities Meeting Tues., April 11 (date change) - 6:30PM; Zoom

Fundraising Meeting Wed., April 12 - 8:30AM; Google Meet

Governance Meeting Thur., April 13 - 4:30PM; Google Meet

Cmte of the Whole Wed., April 19 - 6:30PM

Board Meeting Thurs., April 27 - 6:30PM, Room 100; Zoom

Join Twin Cities German Immersion School at Allianz Field for when Minnesota United FC takes on 1. FC Kaiserslautern from Germany! Discounted tickets are available while supplies last, and they cannot be resold online. All sales are final. We’re excited to organize this again for our community!

• What: Minnesota United FC versus 1. FC Kaiserslautern
• When: Wednesday, June 28th at 7:30pm
• Where: Allianz Field, St. Paul

Tickets average $26, 29, 35 (depending on section). Click here to purchase your discounted tickets.

TCGIS is proud to be hosting the exhibit Lest We

Forget, a touring collection of twenty-four 3D multimedia works of art with short literary

vignettes. Lest We Forget translates the stories of Fred Amram, a child Holocaust survivor, into

visual art.

TCGIS would like to recognize Nuveen/TIAA for providing the grant funding to make this exhibit possible. Additionally, we offer our heartfelt thanks to the TCGIS family who named our school as the recipient of this employer grant.

On Sunday, March 26th, 4:00-6:00 pm– the Lest We Forget exhibit will be open to the public a second time at TCGIS. There will not be a program; community members are welcome to view the exhibit independently.

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Ab aufs Eis! We had so much fun last time, we’re doing another German Community Hockey Night. The Wild go head to head with Jets. Admission includes a limited edition Wild-German scarf. Wear your German-related fan gear to show your German and MN Wild pride! 

Note: In order to join us for GAI-specific activities, tickets MUST be purchased through this link.

Thomas Brussig Book Reading Event

Saturday, April 15, 2023 - 4:30 PM

Thomas Brussig is the well-known author of satirical novels that deal with the German Democratic Republic during the late 70s and early 80s. His book, Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee (The Short End of the Sonnenallee), has recently been translated into English. The event will include a dual-language book reading, follow by time for questions. The event is free but registration is requested. Register here.

The board’s Diversity & Belonging committee would like to highlight upcoming events in the Twin Cities as opportunities for intercultural engagement- one our school’s core values. Click here to learn about highlighted events!

March 25: Maskenball & Auction

March 26: Lest We Forget exhibit viewing open to public

March 27 & 28: 3rd grade MCA testing

March 29 & 30: 4th grade MCA testing

March 30 & 31: Parent/teacher conferences

March 31: No school

April 3-7: Spring Break



TCGIS Google Calendar