Saturday, April 21, 2001

By Richelle Turner Collins, Würzburg bureau

SCHWEINFURT, Germany — Twice a year servicemembers living in Schweinfurt visit Würzburg American High School to pick up their children’s report cards and talk with teachers.

For parents experiencing a time crunch, it’s sometimes too difficult to break free from work and family and drive the 45 minutes to Schweinfurt to talk with teachers. School officials made things easier Friday by bringing the educators to the parents.

Würzburg American High School had a parent-teacher conference at Conn Community Club in Schweinfurt. The education open house gave parents a forum to talk with teachers about their children’s grades, homework and college preparation.

"It’s convenient. It’s easy," said Sgt. First Class Anthony Terry, a father of five who works across the street from the club.

"I can check on what I need to check on."

Terry has two children at the high school. He had their report cards in hand and was headed to talk their teachers.

This is the second time Würzburg American High School had a parent teacher conference in Schweinfurt. The first meeting was in November.

Conferences like these usually take place at the school, but school officials wanted to ensure every parent was able to speak with their child’s teacher. A similar conference took place in Würzburg on Thursday.

High School Principal Dave Witte said this is an extension of the parent, community, school partnership.

"The school and community are working together to provide a service for the parents," Witte said.

Biology teacher Helen Mathey-Horn said many parents wanted to talk to her about how they could improve their child’s grades.

"If the student has a problem they usually want to see where the problem is," Mathey-Horn said. "They want to see what they can do to improve the situation."

Many parents also just wanted to meet her. While e-mail and the phone is more convenient, it’s just not personable, she said.

"It’s really good for both parties to really see each other face-to-face," Mathey-Horn said.

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