Marie Harris from Ralph Downs Elementary was one of 129 social studies educators who traveled to Germany during the summer on a two-week, all-expense-paid study/travel seminar sponsored by the Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP).

You, too, can apply to take part. Applications for summer 2006 TOP must be received by Feb. 1, 2006.

Highlights of Harris’ summer study included:

• Q&A sessions with executives of the Federal Foreign Office, the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bank, and German curriculum developers, authors and social studies teachers
• A visit to a German high school
• A personal tour of the Reichstag
• Visits to various museums
• Tours of the Berlin Opera, the home of Martin Luther, cathedrals, castles, the Gutenberg Museum of Printing, Goethe House, and more

"This study tour was one of the most educationally enriching experiences of a lifetime for me. It was an honor and a privilege to be selected to travel and learn with an incredible group of master teachers from all over the United States," Harris says.

TOP was founded to foster understanding by providing K-12 social studies educators, social studies curriculum developers, and social studies methods professors with lessons on how to comparatively teach about a foreign country in depth, using Modern Germany as the primary example. TOP supports educators throughout the United States by supplying professional lesson plans, transparencies, wall maps, and by sponsoring individual, state, regional, and national workshops For more information, visit the goethe institut USA website.

Applications must be received by Feb. 1, 2006. For application information and an application form, please visit http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/prj/top/sem/app/enindex.htm