Kristen Graham | Living her American dream

The tenth graders sitting in neat rows in front of Solveigh Vogt had no idea, but teaching them about German nouns in a Fort Washington classroom is pretty much a high point in her life.

“To become a teacher in the U.S. was on my wish list for life,” she said later, breaking into a smile. “And now I am here.”

Vogt arrived at Upper Dublin High School by way of the Fulbright Teacher Exchange program, which placed her at the Montgomery County school for a year. Upper Dublin teacher Rob Albert is taking her place at a school in the small town of Ohrdruf, in Central Germany. They will each return home in late June, after the school year.

Vogt grew up in East Germany, a good student with little hope she would ever fulfill her dream.

“In my youth, we did not have the chance to travel, except to Communist countries,” she said. “But I always loved the English language, and I always wanted to speak it, and to go to America someday.”

She became an English teacher after university, but her skills were not valued until after reunification in 1990, when students began to study the language widely. Once Communist rule was lifted, Vogt began to travel widely, too, taking trips to America and Canada.

In recent years, Vogt, 46, scoured the Internet for news of fellowships and programs that might allow her to teach in the States. Last year, she applied for the Fulbright and after a months-long process, became one of six German Fulbright fellows, the only one from the former East Germany.

So far, she’s enchanted. Slightly overwhelmed, but enchanted.

Much is different about Upper Dublin High — the schedule, its size.

“I was very proud of myself when I found my way to the office for the first time — it’s so big,” she said of the 1,700-student school, which is best described as maze-like. “In Germany, my school has about 350 students. I’m astonished this works so well.”

Technology is practically nonexistent in her school, Gymnasium Gleichense. And for Vogt, who is used to entering grades meticulously, by hand, in an old-fashioned gradebook, it was a little daunting to learn a computerized grade system and use e-mail for work.

“What was overwhelming is the totally different school system,” she said. “So much new information. This school, all schools in the U.S., have to care for students with special needs.”

This is an area particularly close to her heart, as her son is deaf, and her family had to move to another town so Peter, now 25, could go to a special school, apart from his friends.

“He would like to have gone to his familiar school to learn with the kids there,” she said. “I find everyone in one school to be so great.”

Mostly, though, things are similar - her students are hard workers, and compare well with those she left behind in Germany.

“They are pretty good at German,” she said of her Upper Dublin classes. “They concentrate, they work hard. They are nice students.”

Eva Morrison, foreign language supervisor at the school, has high praise for Vogt.

"We really lucked out with her," she said. "She's terrific."

On a recent day, Vogt — who conducts her classes entirely in German, with just a few exceptions — was cheerful, energetic, and firm with her sophomore class, moving around the room, helping with shaky pronunciation, laughing along with a student who called her “Herr Vogt” instead of “Frau Vogt.”

Her students had lots of questions for their new teacher — does she miss her family? (Very much.) How does she like Upper Dublin? (Lots.)

In fact, so far she’s found just one downside to America. Her multiple experiences at the Pennsylvania Department of Motor Vehicles, she says politely, were “difficult” at best, but now at least she’s got a driver’s license.

Adjusting to living abroad was smoothed by the work of Vogt’s exchange partner Albert, who made her living arrangements. (She’s living in a room in his grandmother’s Hatboro home, complete with delicious meals and delightful company, she said.)

She’s about to buy a car, and plans on exploring the region every weekend. Her husband just came in for a visit, and both he and her son are coming for Christmas — celebrating such a major holiday in America is part of the experience, she said. Vogt's family knew of her dream for a long time and fully supported her.

“I want to go to Amish country. I will go to Philadelphia and look at the historic sights. The Liberty Bell means something to me. I’m getting goosebumps, thinking about it.”

But mostly, though, she wants to spend her time making her colleagues and her students proud.

“I take it very seriously — I really want to contribute to the culture, to make my kids aware of the differences,” she said. “I hope I can find more opportunities to do things outside the classroom, like a coffee klatsch after school.”

Albert, who’s teaching English to fifth, eighth, and eleventh graders, feels similarly — after winning a spot in the competitive international program, he’s concentrating on making the best of his year away from home, and on adjusting to a new life.

“Everyday life is quite different, and does take some getting used to,” Albert said in an e-mail. “After driving a car every day for the past five years, I am now riding my bike everywhere.”

Back in her corner classroom decorated with flags and posters, Vogt said she wasn’t going to waste a minute of her year at Upper Dublin.

“I love the U.S., its history. I always tell my students at home that I want to live what I teach — I want to learn more about this country, the people, the culture.”

And now, she said, stepping into the hallway of a crowded, colorful American high school to welcome her next class, she is.

Contact reporter Kristen Graham at 215-854-5146 or

» READ MORE: kgraham@phillynews.com

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a column highlighting innovative, unique, and outstanding things going on in classrooms around the region, has returned from its summer hiatus. School Link runs each Wednesday through the school year, and is often accompanied by video, audio, or photo slideshows. Please share your column ideas with education reporter Kristen Graham at

» READ MORE: kgraham@phillynews.com

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