News and Updates
Special Rules and Procedures for the 2021 Remote Contest
Houstonfest Scholarships
Scholarships at State
Teacher-to-Teacher Tips
Tips for Pair Discussion
Photo Gallery
2014
Arrival at Heights High School
Lunch options
Plays will be performed at Houstonfest
Daily log of changes to
state-qualifier list
Important Dates
Sat., Jan. 16, 2021: Regular deadline to submit registration
spreadsheet in order to pay regular price of $10/student (payment does not have
to be mailed until 1/25).
Mon., Jan. 25, 2021: Final deadline to submit registration spreadsheet
for late price of $12/student and deadline to postmark payment.
Mon., Feb. 1, 2021: Proof sheet of entries sent to teachers for final
verification and changes.
Wed., Feb. 3, 2021,
8:00 p.m.: Deadline to submit changes (adds,
drops, substitutions). After this point, no more additions or
substitutions will be allowed.
Sat., Feb. 6, 2021:
Houstonfest (100% remote): some events conducted
"live" (online) that day, all others submitted digitally by 9:00 a.m.
Sat., Feb. 13, 2021:
Houstonfest online awards ceremony, time TBA.
Wed., Feb. 17, 2021:
State online registration due by 11:59 p.m.
for "early bird" price of
$10/student (payment does not have to be mailed yet). Also, deadline to apply for the
Mary El-Beheri Memorial Scholarship
and to submit entries for
promotional video contest
to State director Jennifer Christianson.
Mon., Feb. 22, 2021: State online registration due by 11:59 p.m. at
regular price of
$12/student.
Sat., Feb. 27, 2021: Texas State German
Contest (100% remote): some events conducted "live" (online) that day, all
others submitted digitally by 9:00 a.m.
Sat., Mar. 6, 2021:
State online awards ceremony, time TBA. Also,
Houstonfest Scholarship
applications due.
Fri., Mar. 12, 2021:
Gail Cope
Scholarship applications due.
Fri., April 30, 2021:
Gail Cope Teacher Grant applications due.
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Advantaged
Speakers
Below are the "normal" rules
for Houstonfest in a non-pandemic year. To preserve a record of the normal
rules, alterations to the rules for the 2021 remote contest will not be
reflected here but rather documented at this link: Special
Rules and Procedures for the 2021 Remote Contest.
In particular, several events that are normally open to Advantaged Speakers will
unfortunately not be offered in 2021.
"Advantaged
speakers" are students who meet one or more of the following criteria:
-
They
have lived in a German-speaking country six weeks or more at one time since
the age of 13.
-
They
reside with a native speaker of German who regularly speaks German at
home.
-
They
speak German at home.
-
They
regularly (annually or biannually) visit or have visited a German-speaking
country, visiting German-speaking homes.
-
They
have attended a school where all subjects were taught in German for one or
more years.
No
exchange students from German-speaking countries may enter any event at
Houstonfest, including the "advantaged speaker" categories. (They are,
however, welcome to help out as judges.) Exchange students from non-German-speaking
countries may enter events for which they qualify (regular or advantaged,
depending on their circumstances).
It is left
to the professional judgment of the teacher to determine the eligibility of
students. Questions of eligibility should be addressed to the contest director
prior to the contest registration deadline. If a student is designated
advantaged in one event, he/she must be entered as advantaged in all events.
Advantaged speakers may compete
ONLY in the following events:
-
Advantaged speaker test
-
Extemporaneous speaking, advantaged category
-
Poetry memory, advantaged category
-
Prose
memory, advantaged category
-
Skit,
level 4 (inform judges as to which actors are advantaged)
-
Puppet show, upper level (inform judges as to which actors are
advantaged)
-
Play
(inform judges as to which actors are advantaged)
-
Most
cultural events: chorus, classical ensemble, club album, contemporary
music (as instrumentalists only, not as vocalists), crafts, digital logo design, doll costume,
folk dance (Einzeltanz or group), gingerbread house, needlework,
original model, photography, polka band, poster, research
paper, shirt design, video. Advantaged speakers may NOT compete in
photo essay or vocal solo.
Just to be
perfectly clear, advantaged speakers are NOT allowed to enter the
following events: contemporary
music as vocalists (but OK as instrumentalists), culture,
directed dialogue,
duet acting,
grammar,
listening comprehension,
oral presentation,
Pass auf!, pair
discussion, photo
essay,
poetry reading, prose
reading, puppet show (lower level), reading comprehension, scavenger hunt, sight
reading, skit (levels 1-3),
spelling, timed writing, vocabulary, and vocal solo. |
When is the next Houstonfest?
Saturday,
February 6, 2021 Where
is Houstonfest?
Due to COVID-19, the 2021 contest will be conducted entirely REMOTELY.
Link to Texas
State German Contest
Texas
State German Contest on Facebook |