The German Class Competition is a friendly competitive event consisting of activities including solo and team games.
On March 14, the University of Wisconsin Madison will be hosting the annual German Class Competition, or “German Day,” and Grayslake North is going to be competing. This is a free competition that North wants to continue into an annual event for the school by seeing how this first time goes. Middle schools and high schools compete in level 2 advanced categories for the reward of bragging rights. The event is for growth and skill development, and all German III Honors students will be competing; in class they are going through preparations to help them succeed in the activities and games.
“The event is called German Day, and it is put on by the University of Wisconsin Madison. This is the thirtieth year that they are having this competition, so they have a handful of schools compete. Middle schools and high schools both compete in about seven different events such as charades, pictionary, skits, and a spelling bee. All these different events all take place in German,” said German teacher Lisa Palaian.
There are multiple team activities including charades, music, posters, skits, pictionary, and poetry. The solo activities are music and poetry. Students go through the activities and are judged on their skills in each and are given points based on how well they performed. German III Honors students are going through training in classes to ready themselves for their competitions, and they all work to get better at everything.
“We’re working in class to prepare different things. So for the spelling bee, we’d practice a little bit each day of being comfortable standing in front of people and using the German alphabet. People doing the posters are working on that as well, and people are putting the skits together. They’re just practicing to present,” Palaian said.
This is the first year Grayslake North has been entered into the competition, and they plan to attend annually. The idea is to help the students expand their knowledge and fluency in German through games and activities, making it easier and more enjoyable for them. German III Honors students are going to be competing on the level 2 advanced category.The entirety of the event is about fun and skill development. There is no real reward for winning.
“I think it’s for fun. I believe there is a reward; however, we’re more geared to the fun aspect of it. We win bragging rights,” said senior Antonette Appel.