On Feb. 1 and 2, the Decatur High School German Club participated in German Convention 2019, an annual statewide competition for high school German students.

During the first day of the competition, each school performed in front of the other schools. The students performed in German and embraced German culture in their performances. The performances ranged from lip-sync battles, skits, a Quiz Bowl and more. Decatur won second place on Group Skit.

On the second day, there were individual competitions. Students competed with other students on the same skill level as them. Orr and other Decatur students had the opportunity to choose what competitions to compete in. The competitions included speaking, vocabulary, spelling and writing tests.

Sophomore Ella Orr participated in German Convention for the second time and got second place in the Extemporaneous competition.

“For that event, I was given a picture and I had to describe in German what was in the picture and what was going on,” Orr said.

Other students also won categories in the individual competitions. Senior Max Tirouvanziam won first place for Story Retelling, Sophia Goldberg and Alice Cook won first place for their partner work and junior Lily Kostka won first place for Role Playing.

Students were also able to submit projects. The projects included baked goods, homemade games, photography, posters, t-shirts and videos. Each school could only submit two entries per category. Goldberg won third place for her baked good and Kostka won third place for her poster.

Students also participated in different activities, including arts and crafts, hiking, board games and more. The students enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with their peers and get a better understanding of German culture.

“It was really fun this year and it’s just an easy-going time,” Orr said.