definitely worth every last minute spent
his summer, Pineon writing German sentences using
Richland High School
specific grammar,” says McNamara. He
junior Michael
successfully passed the first level and
McNamara will represent
moved on to the second preliminary
the United States at the world’s
round in Chicago. After experiencing
largest competition of the German
the city for an evening with his fellow
language. The International
contestants, McNamara was put to
German Olympics takes place
the test the following morning.
July 17 through 30 and
The round involved reading,
brings together 136 young
listening, speaking, writing
people from 68 countries.
and presenting skills.
McNamara is one of
After successfully
only two students in
mastering the
the United States to
preliminary rounds in
earn this prestigious
Chicago, the next step
honor. McNamara’s
for McNamara is the
PRHS German
July event in Berlin. The
teacher, Eric Baysinger,
Michael McNamara with Pine-Richland German teacher Eric Baysinger.
International German
will accompany him to
Olympics takes place
Berlin.
every two years in Germany and
Originally from Naperville, Ill.,
aims to inspire young people abroad
McNamara, 16, is a resident of Wexford.
to study the German language and
He began studying German at Pineto open doors to German science,
Richland in middle school and not only
culture and economy.
enjoyed, but excelled in the subject.
The competition will be held as an
Soon, the language became a passion
academic Olympic pentathlon that
and McNamara continued his pursuit of
includes reading, listening speaking,
German studies in high school.
writing and presenting skills—a very
McNamara decided to take German
similar setup to Chicago’s preliminary
as a second language because of a
rounds, but with the promise of
connection to his family history.
much more difficulty. McNamara
Already interested in the Germanic
is relying on the hard work he has
languages from a young age, the idea of
completed as part of his years of
learning a new language fascinated him
study at PRHS and continues to work
and he says it’s been the most rewarding
hard daily to build his vocabulary and
experience