Orange Hunt Elementary Students Meet President, German Chancellor

Students from Orange Hunt Elementary School got to say Guten tag to President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a special visit to the White House earlier this week.

“Some of the kids shook their hands,” said sixth-grade teacher Ariane Thompson, who has been teaching at the school for 12 years. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

About 200 students and teachers were invited to meet and greet with the Chancellor and the President on Tuesday. Orange Hunt Elementary was chosen because they have the only German language partial immersion school in Fairfax County.

"I thought it was kinda cool," said Kari Mitchum, of Fairfax Station. Her 8-year-old son attends the school. "It's not like people go to the White House like we did when I was growing up."

Students attended the arrival ceremony for the Chancellor where hundreds of dignitaries and members of the press were also on hand.

 “We were positioned along with other students on the left hand side of the podium,” said Assistant Principal Jason Pensler. “The students saw the military procession and parade. The kids really enjoyed it. That’s all they could talk about.”

Students from the school’s third through sixth grade classes had to leave the school at the crack of dawn to arrive at the White House at about 7 a.m. Though students had to wait four hours to witness the 45-minute ceremony, teachers were pleased with how the students behaved.

“The kids were excellent,” Pensler said. “They were above and beyond anything for their age. I think it was just the excitement of seeing the President and the Chancellor.”

Teachers also prepared students for the visit by prepping them on the structure of the government in Germany. At Orange Hunt in Springfield, about 300 students in grades 1 through 6 participate in the immersion program. Students learn math, science, and health only in the German language. Other subjects are taught in English.

“The goal is to teach the kids the foreign language within their subject area,” Thompson said.

Though parents have to apply to have their child participate in the program, it is open to any student in Fairfax County. Several students who live in Fairfax Station attend the school for that purpose. The county also offers immersion programs in Japanese and Spanish.

“It was such a reward for the kids to tie their lessons to something more tangible,” Thompson said. “We all value our immersion program and we work really hard to support it.”

View the ceremony on WhiteHouse.Gov. For more information about Fairfax County Public School’s immersion programs, visit their website.