SR students 'rock' their way to positivity
SLIPPERY ROCK — German has never been considered a romance language in any sense of the word, but this Valentine's Day, thanks to Slippery Rock High School students, German is being used to spread encouragement and positivity.
High school teacher Megan Kramer is using rocks and paint to teach lessons in kindness and also correct German.
Kramer, who teaches German to students in ninth through 12th grade, as well as advanced placement classes, noticed painted rocks during walks around her neighborhood. After discovering the Kindness Rocks project online, Kramer decided to combine the project's message with foreign language instruction.
“My idea was to incorporate the idea of my lessons to not only teach German, but to also foster a culture of kindness in my classroom and beyond,” said Kramer.
The Kindness Rocks Project encourages people to create inspirational rocks and leave them for others to find, providing random passers-by with a small sign of encouragement.
Students in all of Kramer's German classes brainstormed German words and phrases, phrases emphasized Kramer that were both kind and encouraging.
Students then translated the phrases they wanted to use from English to German, boiling down to a list of acceptable words and phrases to be painted on rocks.
Kramer explained her aim with the project, which she dubbed #SRDeutschRocks.
“Whatever I teach, the main objective is to have students use German as an authentic language,” she said.
According to Kramer, the project let the students learn how they could turn some of their common English slang into German phrases they could paint on rocks.
“It really doesn't get much more authentic,” said Kramer.
Depending on the class, Kramer said, some students had the vocabulary to come up with German phrases on their own.
Students also had to learn a grammatical objective, forming commands such as “Sei en Held” (Be a Hero), “Hab Mut” (Have Courage) or “Gib nigh auf” (Never Give Up).
The added objective of promoting kindness in school or, as Kramer put it, “fostering a culture of kindness” within the high school community enhanced the lesson
Katie Griffith, a German student, has a positive reaction to the project.“The #SRDeutschRocks program has been a lot of fun to be a part of,” said Griffith. “I can't wait to see the response the public has to the rocks and the way they spread both kindness and a love for the German language.”The rock-painting project, Kramer said, started when the high school came back from winter break in the first week of January.“I bought the rocks. They were cheap. I scavenged supplies from the art teachers,” said Kramer.“We created over 200 rocks, I lost count after that,” she said.“My favorite phrase might be 'Sei ein licht in der Dunkelheit!' That means 'Be a light in the darkness,'” she said.The rocks have been placed throughout the area. Residents might find rocks in Slippery Rock, Portersville, Harrsville, Prospect and points beyond Butler County as well.Anyone who finds a rock is encouraged to take a picture of it and email the photo to the Instagram site, “SRDeutschRocks.”Alternatively, people can snap a rock picture and upload it to their Instagram sites and add the hashtag #SRDeutschRocks.A label on the back of the rocks instructs those who find one.Kramer said, “Basically they could be anywhere. I took some to Altoona this weekend and they've already been found.”There are already rocks in Oklahoma, and rocks will be deposited in Germany and Switzerland this summer when Kramer visits both countries.“We want to get the whole community involved in the project, not just the German students and not even just the high school students,” said Kramer.
