Way to Go! Garden City student wins trip to Germany

A Garden City High School student is one of 57 teens nationwide to be awarded an all-expense-paid trip this summer to Germany by the American Association of Teachers of German.

Rebecca Phinney, a sophomore, was eligible for the overseas trip after being among the highest scorers last winter on the Level 3 National German Exam for High School Students. She was then asked to answer a series of short essay questions in German and English and was interviewed by a committee comprised of high school teachers and college professors of German. 

The 2 1/2-week trip will include air transportation to the city of Passau, a homestay with a host family in that city, and visits to places of cultural and historical significance in Germany, she said. 

"I was pretty confident, but I was still of course a little bit surprised," Phinney, 15, said of her achievement. Of her interest in the German language, she said: "Both of my parents studied German in high school and were really interested in it, and they kind of encouraged me to start learning German."

Phinney's other involvements include being a member of her school's track team and German Club, and playing the cello and vibraphone in her school's chamber orchestra and marching band, respectively. She also has volunteered teaching younger students through SCOPE Education Services.

— MICHAEL R. EBERT

By Michael R. Ebert

michael.ebert@newsday.com

Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.