Liréna Engelsbel Selected for Competitive German Sommerakademie Trip to Dresden

With parents from the Soviet Union and The Netherlands and having spent the first 12 years of their life in The Netherlands, Liréna Engelsbel came to the United States eager to find a path where they could continue to explore multiple languages and cultures as well as their interests in athletics and education. At Montclair, Liréna signed up for a major in German and minors in International Studies and Sports Coaching and was an active participant in the annual International Soccer Tournament, German Club, German Honor Society, and the SPARK for German community engaged teaching program.

After a semester abroad in Graz, Austria, during which Liréna visited many European countries and saw countless professional soccer games, Liréna graduated and did student teaching at Montgomery High School before being hired as a German teacher at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in Bridgewater New Jersey.

Parallel to the position, Liréna is pursuing an alternate-route German teaching degree through the Idioma program, which is endorsed by the Goethe-Institut and American Association of Teachers of German (AATG), and which also offers many other attractive German courses for students continuing their German after graduation. “It is a great program, it helps me that it is all online too and I don’t stress too much about the deadlines as each module is about a week long, which is more than enough time to prepare.”

In Summer 2024, Liréna was among just a dozen U.S.-based teachers of German selected to attend the annual two-week Sommerakademie for teacher training, networking, and cultural exploration in Dresden in June 2024, fully funded by the Goethe-Institut. Liréna is anxious to bring their new expertise and direct experience to New Jersey German students this year.

There is a shortage of German and other World Language teachers in New Jersey, and across the country. While the Montclair German program does not offer certification, many of its graduates have become teachers and this aspect of the program continues to grow with the availability of new programs such as Idioma’s that students can complete alongside their teaching appointments.