PR STUDENTS TACKLE ENROLLMENT ISSUE AT GERMAN SCHOOL posted 5/24/05

Creque, Schultz and Vanhala in Germany.

Why is the enrollment for American students dropping at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin, Germany?

Two Adrian College students and their professor spent spring break trying to find this out.

Students from the public relations II class, juniors Erin Vanhala of Allen Park and Janet Creque of Lyons, Ohio, accompanied Communication Professor Dr. Joanna Schultz to Germany over spring break. On this trip they visited the John F. Kennedy School (JFKS) in an area of Berlin called Zehlendorf.

The public relations class II is researching the JFKS to find out why the enrollment of American students has gone down. The JFKS is a bilingual, bicultural, German-American, college preparatory public school with approximately 1,700 students in kindergarten through grade 13. Students of both nationalities are taught together in the same classroom with the goal of developing respect, tolerance and understanding for each other and for the partner culture.

“Because of the American culture in the school, and because most of the teaching is in English, many government officials, including Embassy employees, have sent their kids to JFKS in the past. However, in recent years fewer Embassy employees have been sending their children there,” stated Vanhala.

While there, Schultz conducted four adult focus groups and Vanhala and Creque conducted two student focus groups.

“The students seemed to enjoy being able to openly discuss the school and all of the questions that we had,” stated Creque.

It is planned to send JFKS a report on the findings of the focus groups. In addition, Adrian students also helped with the JFKS website. Back in the classroom, students evaluated their design layout, choice of colors, pictures, and word usage. They also looked at the content on the site, and how those who are interested in the school could retrieve more information about it.

For Creque and Vanhala the trip was more than just a good learning experience.

“Not only did we get to have a great experience in public relations, we also got to see a lot of Berlin,” Vanhala said. “We had two experienced tour guides to show us around, and we went to a bunch of historical places and ate a lot of awesome food.”

By: Jessica Osenga '05