Brenda Hansen

Brenda Hansen has taught on the German faculty at BJU since August, 1999.  She majored in German Education at BJU and received her S.C. educator certification for German in January, 1999.  After graduation, she wanted to continue in her German studies, so she enrolled in the University of South Carolina Graduate School and received an M.A. in German.  She later went on to obtain an M.A. degree in German teaching through the GOLDEN program at the University of Nebraska's School of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education.  Brenda is an officer in her national teachers’ association, the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG), as the Testing Chairperson for South Carolina.

Learning a language in a classroom can make students think about achieving a certain letter grade, but the goal is to try to get students to focus not on perfection, but on what they can do and where they can go with their language skills.  Many students eventually travel to or live in German-speaking countries where they are able to use their German language extensively.  Brenda is an experienced European traveler.  Some recent trips were participating in a musical mission trip to Vienna, Austria and being chosen to travel with other German teachers on an AATG trip.  Brenda was able to use her hobby of photography extensively on both of these trips.

Brenda is married to Rob Hansen, a chef on the Culinary Arts faculty at BJU, and together they have 3 children. They especially enjoy participating in their church's music ministry, where Brenda plays the violin in the church orchestra.