The German program at Empire High School has been designated a German Center of Excellence by the American Association for Teachers of German. The program is led by one of UA German's alumni, Veronica Ostertag, who will be honored at the AATG meeting in New Orleans in November. The program was thorougly assessed for a varity of factors, ranging from the curriculum to extracurriulars and from the quality of instruction to the faculty-student ratio. Among other things, the selection committee said, "The German program at Empire High School certainly values its students. The jury noted that the faculty clearly values student feedback and the application provided abundant evidence of the good rapport the faculty has with its students. This is truly a program that is designed to meet the needs of students." As a fellow AATG Center of Excellence, the UA German Department congratulates the Empire High School German program and all those who make it what it is!