By Katie Huang and Pablo Velez Garcia
On Friday, March 3, Vestavia Hills High School German students returned to German Day at the University of Alabama for the first time in three years. Hosted by the Modern Languages and Cultures Department at the University of Alabama, German Day is a statewide German language competition, consisting of different events that challenge German students of various levels (Level 1, Level 2, Level ¾ , and Heritage/Near Native speakers) in their speaking and reading abilities, as well as other skills. Events fall into three different categories: oral, written, and creative expression. Each year, there is a different theme that the competition focuses itself and its events around. The theme for German Day 2023 was “Sport und Bewegung.” Students recited poems, created art, presented Powerpoints, and spelled out words relating to the theme of sport and movement.
VHHS German students won numerous awards across many events and levels. Our German 1 students did an amazing job with two third-place wins in the Group Song and Group Poetry events and a first-place win in Original Art with Ella Smith’s handmade crocheted blanket. German 2 students placed in five different oral events (PowerPoint Presentation, Extemporaneous Speaking, Group Song, Group Poetry, and Spelling Bee) and did extremely well in them all.
German 3, 4, AP, and 5 students also did incredibly well in many events and placed in all but one of the main categories. They swept Extemporaneous Speaking and Powerpoint Presentation by placing in all of the top three spots in these events. Merritt K., Emma Catherine L., Summer L., Riley N., John Harris H., and Nathan S. placed first in Group Song with their performance of “Lieblingsmensch” by Namika, and they were invited to perform at the winner’s showcase at the end of German Day!
Thanks to the amazing performance of all the German students, VHHS was able to maintain first place throughout the competition and take home the coveted “Top School” trophy.
VHHS is pictured at the top of the leaderboard with the most points out of seven schools.
All of the German students did incredible at German Day. None of it would have been possible without our wonderful German teachers: Frau Buder (German 1, 2, 4, 5, and AP), Frau Patterson (German 2 and 3), and Frau Davidson (German 1).
Here is the full list of winners from German Day:
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