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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Sweepstakes and
Other Awards
Below are the
sweepstakes rules for Houstonfest is a non-pandemic year. To preserve a
record of the normal rules, the alterations to the point system for the 2021
remote contest will not be reflected in the table below.
For 2021, the
following changes will be in effect:
- Many contests on the list will not be
offered at all. Contests offered in 2021 are in bold in the table below.
- Contemporary Music will move down to the
4th tier (1st place = 12 points) for 2021 only to put it on par with Vocal Solo, since for
2021 only one performer will be allowed per Contemporary Music entry.
- There will be only a "Poetry" contest and a
"Prose" contest rather than the usual separate contests for Memory and
Reading. The Poetry and Prose contests will be assigned to the 4th tier
for 2021 (1st place = 12 points).
Besides the awards given in the various contests, we award a
number of comprehensive prizes.
Sweepstakes: Schools receive sweepstakes points for each
event in which they place in the top 10 (see table below). Schools are
classified as "Large Schools" or "Small Schools" based on how many students are
enrolled in German classes at the school. For 2020, schools with
90 or more students in German classes were in the Large category and schools
with 89 or fewer students in German classes were in the Small category, but the
cut-off point is subject to change every year. Trophies
will be awarded in 2021
to the top 6 schools in the Large School division and the top 6 schools in the
Small School division.
The Klein aber fein
trophy goes to the school with the highest ratio of
sweepstakes points to number of students entered among those schools entering
between 5 and 15 students.
Money prizes of $100 go to the "rookie school" with the highest number of sweepstakes
points and to the "rookie teacher" whose school earns the highest
number of sweepstakes points. A "rookie school" is defined as a school
that has not entered Houstonfest in the previous five years, and a "rookie teacher"
is defined as a teacher who has never entered students in Houstonfest before the
current year.
Houstonfest uses the same system of awarding
sweepstakes points that is used at the Texas State German Contest. The sweepstakes system was thoroughly revised
beginning with the 2012 contests. Sweepstakes points are
awarded for first through tenth place in each event, which means that even
students who place tenth are contributing sweepstakes points to their school's
cause. The table below shows how sweepstakes points are awarded.
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
8th |
9th |
10th |
Folk Dance (Group), Varsity Pass auf!, Play |
30 |
27 |
24 |
21 |
18 |
16 |
14 |
12 |
10 |
8 |
Duet Acting, Puppet Show, Skit, Video |
20 |
18 |
16 |
14 |
12 |
10 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
Chorus, Contemporary Music (in a normal year but
not in 2021),
Directed Dialogue, Extemporaneous Speaking,
Folk Dance (Einzeltanz), Oral Presentation, Pair Discussion, Novice Pass auf!, Polka
Band, Timed Writing |
14 |
12 |
10 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
Advantaged Speaker Test, Classical Ensemble, Club Album,
Contemporary Music (in this tier for 2021 only), Culture, Grammar,
Photo
Essay, Poetry Memory, Prose Memory, Research Paper, Scavenger Hunt,
Vocal Solo |
12 |
10 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
Crafts, Digital Logo Design, Doll Costume,
Gingerbread House, Listening Comprehension,
Needlework, Original Models, Photography, Poetry Reading,
Poster, Prose Reading, Reading Comprehension, Sight Reading,
Shirt
Design, Spelling, Vocabulary |
10 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
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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 |