Blake Peters, head of the German American School of Portland

Blake Peters, a German and Human Development and Social Relations major and graduate of Kalamazoo College in 1996, is now the head of the German American School of Portland, which offers a bilingual program of study from preschool up to fifth grade. This school takes advantage of a child’s “window of opportunity,” the early years of life (up to age ten in recent studies) when a child canmost easily pick up a second language. Immersion at this early age has proven quite successful, and schools like this are popping up all over the country and abroad.

Blake didn’t expect to end up where he is; in fact, he planned on getting his PhD and teaching at a small, liberal arts college like Kalamazoo College. However, teaching children brought him into the classroom, and eventually, into administration.

Blake considers himself very lucky and enjoys his job tremendously. As an administrator, he mentions working more hours than he would like, but in exchange he works daily with diverse individuals, enjoys challenging his students with real life experiences, and appreciates the school’s dedication to and understanding of the importance of multilingualism. His time spent on the job is definitely worth it. He aspires, nevertheless, to someday travel around the world as an educational consultant, helping to develop, launch and maintain bilingual education programs all over the globe.

Blake also considers himself lucky to have studied German at Kalamazoo College. He studied abroad in Erlangen, and, although he developed his language and cultural skills significantly, he considers these benefits secondary to the importance of the lifelong relationships he acquired abroad, and mentions visiting his host family almost yearly. He has stayed in close contact with his former Kalamazoo German professors as well, who have helped Blake along his career path. When asked how Kalamazoo benefited his personal and/or professional development, he laughs and responds: “how DIDN’T K help prepare me?” His appreciation of access to faculty, academic challenges, advanced coursework and cultural exchange at Kalamazoo College is apparent in this comment: “Interpersonally, interculturally, and academically I have K to thank.”