North Gwinnett News

Three students from Brookwood High School and two from North Gwinnett High School have been awarded Halle Foundation Scholarships. These scholarships will enable them to participate in a fully funded, three-week German immersion program in the summer of 2024. The program is designed to help students immerse themselves in the German language and culture while making intercultural connections. The students, who are currently studying German III, will advance to AP German during the 2024-25 school year.

The scholarship recipients from Brookwood High School are Otto Paul-Tafur, Kyle Sendagire, and Minhal Rizvi, all in the 11th grade. Their German teacher is Mirela Kimbrough. From North Gwinnett High School, Joseph Farkas (11th grade) and Elisha Mooney (10th grade) received the awards under the guidance of their German teacher Rebecca Mooney.

The Halle Foundation was founded by Claus M. Halle in 1986 as an independent public grant-making charity. Claus Halle was a native of Germany who spent about half of his adult life living in the United States. The foundation aims to foster understanding and friendship between people from Germany and the United States through various initiatives related to culture, science, technology, commerce, language, scholarship, and international relations.

Claus Halle believed that "greater knowledge and better understanding will lead to increased friendship between the two peoples and improved relations between the two nations," which he hoped would contribute to world peace. This belief led him to establish The Halle Foundation with a focus on increasing knowledge and understanding between these cultures.