Chatham Über-Teacher Brings Culture Into Class

Twelve years ago, Jennifer Zimmerman willingly set foot on the campus of an old high school rival. A graduate of Chatham Borough High School, Zimmerman had accepted a job teaching at in the building which used to house her alma mater's archrival, Chatham Township High.

As a student at Chatham Borough High, Zimmerman said, "my idea of hell would have been to come back to do any kind of teaching." Even in college, she did not think of becoming a teacher. It was not until she became involved with some youth programs through local organizations that she began to think of youth work as a career.

Zimmerman originally intendended to become a youth minister, but found she yearned for something more "mainstream." So instead, she went for her teaching license. She taught at Morris Hills High School for six years before accepting a position at .

German Exchange Program

When she came (back) to Chatham, Zimmerman brought more than her love of teaching. She also brought the infrastructure of a German student exchange program which she'd worked with at Morris Hills. Over time, it became her claim to fame at Chatham High.

"When I was at Chatham, we had a very popular exchange program. By the time i came to teach, that program had been defunct for about 10 years," Zimmerman said. "People didn't know what to expect."

At first Zimmerman could only find homes for four or five German students to live with Chatham families, who used Global Team Travel for their arrangements.

In 2005 she began working with the American Association of German Teachers' (AAGT) Overseas Program, which offered a study program for American students to travel to German. This turned the program from one of exchange to mutual exchange, allowing students from Chatham and other nearby towns the chance to study in Germany and live with the families of the German students they hosted.

AAGT made all the travel arrangements and offered liability insurance, Zimmerman said, and since it was a study program, "I figured that would attract kids who were going over there for all the right reasons."

The first year went off without a hitch. "We developed such a nice relationship with them that we invited them to come back, and that's how this got started," Zimmerman said.

at Chatham High has grown, from the "four or five" German students in Zimmerman's first year to 26 students, two chaperones and 24 host families in 2012. "Now it's smooth, and each year to make it better and better," she said.

When Former Chatham High Co-Vice Principal George Alexis gave Zimmerman her award at the 2012 Senior Awards Ceremony in June, many of the write-ups her fellow teachers gave her described the work she does with the German exchange students. "It's ironic, because at the meeting where they announced [the Teacher of the Year], I missed it because I was out with the German exchange program," Zimmerman said.

A Cultural Exchange

A confirmed Germanophile, Zimmerman regularly travels to Germany. She left for her most recent trip only a few days after the . She brings back posters and other mementos from her travels and uses them to decorate her classroom and teach German culture as well as language.

The cultural education in particular comes in useful when Chatham students travel to Germany. People there tend to be abrupt and brutally honest where Americans might try to smooth over the rough edges.

"I have a friend in Germany who once told me the sunglasses on my face were too big, even though I really liked them. She didn't mean anything by it, she was just trying to give me a helpful hint," Zimmerman said. "I tell the kids about that during the orientation, and even in the airport we sit and talk about what they should expect."

One thing Zimmerman notices with the students who participate in the program—and something parents have commented to her on as well—is the maturity the kids seem to acquire from their experience. "Over there, when they turn 16, they have a lot more freedom. It's almost like here when we turn 18," Zimmerman said. "You pretty much can tell your parents where you're going, as opposed to asking your parents where you're going. If you have friends or a boyfriend or girlfriend, you can take off on vacation with them without asking for permission. ...

"They also have responsibilities that go along with that. They're held accountable for things, and they make decisions earlier," Zimmerman said. "For our kids, it's a real change and they really like having that independence, but they also notice the responsibility."

When the students return to Chatham, Zimmerman said parents notice the change immediately. "The parents tell me the kids, maybe they don't expect the independence, but they do become more mature. They tell me, 'Oh wow, he's picking up after himself, he can do his own laundry, he just takes more responsibility for his own actions.' And they really like that," she said.

Zimmerman "caught the bug early," from her own German teacher in middle school. "I also have German and Dutch heritage, and that's sort of why I was drawn to it, but mainly because of the teacher." At Chatham Borough High School she participated in the German exchange program. "I really, really loved meeting people there, so I just kind of kept going back," she said.

Currently, Zimmerman is the only staff member who teaches only German and only at Chatham High. Another teacher instructs in French and German; a third teaches at both Chatham High and .

As Time Goes By

As a Chatham native, Zimmerman has often run into the children of her former classmates. "It's funny, you'll be there at , and you'll see your old classmates sitting at the desks," she said.

When Zimmerman graduated from Chatham Borough High, there were about 125 students in her class and about 400 students in the school overall. The borough and township school districts merged four years after she graduated.

Though in a different building, Zimmerman is often reminded of her high school years. "I was on the geeky side," she said, "but I tried to be friendly with everybody."

She said she was a serious student—"I really wanted to do well, so I tried really hard with my grades," she said, "especially in German because I wanted to do well." Her extracurricular activities included marching band, theater and concert choir.

"Some of my best friends were involved in sports," she said. "There was a lot of social overlap, especially in choir.

"It adds an interesting dynamic," she said. "Every now and then I'll pull out my yearbook and show them what their parents looked like in high school. Most of us looked better then, so they don't mind," she said with a smile.

Years later, Zimmerman said the most rewarding part of her job is being around the students. She feels lucky to have a job where she can enjoy not just the material but also the environment. "I love German, I love teaching German, but what I really love is being around the kids," Zimmerman said.