Language teacher brings the world to her students

GROSSE POINTES — Susi Sipos’ students have learned more than second (or third) languages in her classroom: They’ve developed connections with people in the countries where those languages are spoken.

Her ability to teach students to explore and learn about other cultures is among the factors that led to her receiving the Language Teacher of the Year award from the Michigan World Language Association this fall. She was honored for not only teaching languages at Grosse Pointe North High School, but also running an exchange program that enabled her students to travel and make friends with students in other countries.

“The thing that meant the most to me is that my colleagues at North nominated me,” Sipos said.

The annual award goes to one elementary, one middle and one high school teacher for their work.

“The MIWLA Teacher of the Year Awards recognize exemplary K-12 world language educators in our state,” MIWLA public affairs liaison Julie Foss said via email. “Susi Sipos’ nomination for the High School TOY Award made it clear that her work preparing students to be competent intercultural communicators in French and German deserves this recognition. The MIWLA Executive Board is delighted to recognize her and her efforts.”

Sipos brought the German-American Partnership Program to North. Sponsored by the German government and the U.S. Department of State, it involves American students and German students communicating with one another and staying in the homes and countries of their partner students. They also give cultural presentations, with the American students doing so in German and the German students giving these presentations in English, Sipos said.

“It’s our responsibility to do what we can to make sure people are aware that the world is not just our immediate surroundings,” Sipos said.

Sipos has been in education for the last 24 years and has taught here and abroad. She started working in the Grosse Pointe Public School System in 2015, when she was hired to teach German and French at North. For the 2024-2025 school year, Sipos switched to being a special education teacher at Grosse Pointe South High School but may return to teaching languages again in the future when her children are older.

Sipos and her husband, a fellow language teacher, have two children — son Henrik, 13, and daughter Elena, 6. The children have already been to Germany, France and Switzerland, and both speak some German, as well as a little French and Arabic. Sipos, who spent some time teaching at an Arabic charter school in Dearborn, speaks some Arabic as well.

International travel wasn’t on the radar for Sipos while she was growing up in Grosse Pointe Farms.

“My parents never traveled,” Sipos said. “My parents never left the country until I brought them to Germany” when she went there as an adult.

As a fifth grader at Richard Elementary, Sipos took part in the French Back-to-Back program, in which families hosted students from France for three weeks in the spring, and then the American students spent three weeks over the summer with their French partner families.

“When I was 10, my dad asked if I wanted to go to France,” Sipos recalled. “I said, ‘I don’t care.’ I didn’t even know where France was.”

Her first international journey was challenging. Sipos said she was “homesick and horrified.” But the experience changed her.

“When I came home, I realized I learned so much and my eyes were opened,” Sipos said.

The next year, as a sixth grader, Sipos returned to Europe to perform with the Christ Church Grosse Pointe Choir and “loved it,” she said.

With her passion for language and travel ignited, Sipos continued to study French, then she took German as well at Grosse Pointe South High School. She took a class in Japanese via satellite in high school — Zoom wasn’t invented yet — and remembers calling her Japanese teacher twice a week for these sessions. Thanks to a scholarship her teacher told her about, Sipos was able to go to Japan for the summer.

“It was wonderful,” Sipos said.

After graduating from high school as a junior, she went to the University of Michigan, where she earned another scholarship to go to Japan. This time not only was the trip itself covered, but Sipos also received a salary. She spent her sophomore year of college in Japan, where she stayed in a dorm with other international students.

“While I went there, I made friends from all over the world,” said Sipos, adding that she was able to practice her other language skills with students.

Sipos found and secured yet another scholarship, this one taking her to Germany. She said she returned from Japan at the beginning of August and by the middle of the month, she was flying to Germany, where she studied in Munich for a year.

Having made close friends with people from Morocco — where French is one of the languages commonly spoken — Sipos would go to stay with them in Morocco, where she soaked up the culture and daily life.

Traveling the world has impacted the way Sipos sees it.

“I think it’s hard to accept some aspects of American culture when you know that other parts of the world aren’t like that,” Sipos said, citing school shootings, consumerism and the disposable nature of goods as some of the negative aspects of American life.

Sipos majored in German and Japanese Languages and Literatures at U-M and has done graduate work in education at Wayne State University and Oakland University.

She has been able to bring her experiences into the classroom, where her students learn more than just language.

Colleagues like Jennifer Spears, a Spanish teacher and World Language Department co-chair, say Sipos is very deserving of this honor.

“We nominated Susi because she exemplifies everything it means to be an outstanding world language educator: expertise in French and German, plus a generous dose of creativity, passion, hard work, and a willingness to go the extra mile for her students,” Spears said in an email interview. “In the classroom, Susi weaves together excellent instruction with her unique style. She is rigorous, but also funny, encouraging, and warm.”

Mandy Grattan, a Spanish teacher at North, concurred, calling Sipos “a remarkable educator” in an email interview.

“I had the opportunity to see her teach on more than one occasion, and her energy is infectious,” Grattan said. “Her ability to both teach and keep her students in the target language during engaging lessons is unmatched, and her students’ love for her is evident in the fact that they stay with her from level one through AP (Advanced Placement). She teaches stacked classes with grace, organizes amazing exchange experiences for her students, works hard to grow the program through grants and taking her students to other schools in the district to share their love of German, creates newsletters to keep families up to date, runs German club, leads professional development sessions here at North, teaches French on top of 5+ levels of German, and does so all while studying for an advanced degree and being a mom to two littles.”

Spears said Sipos’ dedication to the field of language “inspires us all.”

“In addition to her classroom contributions, Susi has organized many travel and exchange programs that have allowed her students to visit Germany and immerse themselves in authentic culture,” Spears said. “Because of Susi’s efforts, Grosse Pointe North German students were able to host a group of German teens for about two weeks this fall. What a life-changing experience!”

There’s more that goes into Sipos’ work than what most people see in the classroom.

“Behind the scenes, Susi has poured many, many hours into building her German and French programs,” Spears said. “I doubt that many people know the amount of work that goes into creating her signature lessons while also running the German Club, designing field trips, organizing student travel, and preparing her students for national German exams. But Susi has so much energy and drive that she makes it appear effortless. Believe me, it’s not!”

Her colleagues say Sipos is as generous with fellow teachers as she is with her students.

“Susi is so incredibly passionate, kind, and knowledgeable,” Grattan said. “While we do not teach the same language, she was an invaluable resource when I took over AP Spanish last year and is always willing to collaborate with other teachers. She is constantly seeking to grow and learn and I just find her inspiring. … She just brings this wonderful energy wherever she goes, and I will be forever grateful that I got to teach and learn with her!”

Sipos was recognized for her award and her work during an Oct. 8 Grosse Pointe Board of Education meeting at Brownell Middle School in Grosse Pointe Farms.

“Thank you, Mrs. Sipos,” Superintendent Andrea Tuttle said. “It doesn’t happen without your leadership.”

Board member Ginny Jeup thanked Sipos as well.

“Thank you for putting this great program together,” Jeup told her.

Board member Colleen Worden said she remembered when the board approved the program two years ago.

“It’s so nice to see it come to fruition,” Worden said. “It’s such a great opportunity for our students.”