With the annual State German Convention coming up in January, Decatur High School (DHS) German Club has been busy preparing. This convention takes place in Camp Jackson near Covington. For junior Eleanor Sterne, the convention is her favorite part of the club. “It’s a great bonding opportunity, and we don’t prepare as much as some other schools, but we always have a great time,” says Sterne. Sterne is very passionate about languages and says “being around people who share that passion is a great opportunity!”
The day the club arrives at the convention, they participate and are judged on group activities such as dancing and lip syncing to German songs. The following day, individual and “Partner Arbeit” (Partner work) competitions take place and range in difficulty depending on what level German you take. Individual competitions range from reciting poems in German to spelling German words, and Partner Arbeit competitions are when one person describes a picture in German and their partner draws it on a whiteboard. Whoever has the most accurate picture in the end wins. Additionally, during the convention, group activities take place,a popular one is the “quiz bowl”. During this competition, groups of 4 answer trivia questions that are related to that year’s theme, last year’s being Green Earth.
Besides the competition aspect, there are also many colleges that attend to discuss their respective German programs and award scholarships.
According to sophomore Evee Owens, “We love this event and love to take home awards that represent all the hard work we do leading up to this event and how much work our German teachers put in for it and into us.”
