News and Updates
Houstonfest Scholarships:
Winners Announced
Scholarships at State
NEW:
Houstonfest history
Changes and updates for 2024
Contest
promo video #1 (students from one school tell why they
love contest)
Contest promo
video #2 (one student tells why she loves contest)
State promo video contest
Teacher-to-teacher tips
Tips for Pair Discussion
Arrival at Kingwood High School
Lunch options
Photo gallery
Daily log of changes to
State-qualifier list
Important Dates
Mon. Jan. 8, 2024, 4:00 p.m.: Application for
transportation grants from Houston Saengerbund opens (teachers will be sent a
link to a Google Form).
Thur., Jan. 18, 2024, 11:59
p.m. (extended by 2 days, previous deadline 1/16): Houstonfest registration
spreadsheet due for regular price of $12/student (payment does not have
to be mailed until 1/22).
Mon., Jan. 22, 2024, 11:59
p.m.: Houstonfest registration spreadsheet
due
for late price of $15/student. Deadline to postmark Houstonfest payment.
Sat., Jan. 27, 2024, 9:00 a.m.: Submission of entries in the 7 virtual Houstonfest events due (get link to
Google Form from your teacher - it was sent to them on Wed., Jan. 24).
Tue., Jan. 30, 2024, 11:59 p.m.: Remote
judging of the 7 virtual Houstonfest events ends.
Wed., Jan. 31, 2024, 9:30 p.m.: Houstonfest changes (adds,
drops, substitutions) due. After this point, no more changes will be allowed.
Sat., Feb. 3, 2024:
Houstonfest,
Heights High School, Houston.
Fri., Feb. 9, 2024, 11:59 p.m.: State
online registration due for "early bird" price of $12/student (payment does not
have to be mailed until 2/14).
Wed., Feb. 14, 2024, 11:59 p.m.: State
online registration due
for
regular price of
$15/student. Deadline to postmark your State payment.
Sat., Feb. 17, 2024, 9:00 a.m.: Submission of entries in the 7 virtual State events due (get
the link to a
Google Form from your teacher; it was emailed to them on 2/7 by the State
director). Also,
Mary El-Beheri Memorial Scholarship and Sandra Dieckman GTHS Memorial
Scholarship
applications due (to submit the application, get the link to a Google
Form from your teacher; it was emailed to them on 2/10 by the State director).
Mon., Feb. 19, 2024, 8:00 p.m.:
Entries in
State promotional video
contest
due to State director.
Tue., Feb. 20, 2024, 11:59 p.m.: Remote
judging of the 7 virtual State events ends.
Sat., Feb. 24, 2024:
Texas State German Contest, Texas State
University, San Marcos.
Sat., Mar. 2, 2024, 11:59 p.m.: Houstonfest Scholarship applications due.
Sun., Mar. 10, 2024: Gail Cope
State Scholarship applications due.
rolling basis but no later than Tue., Apr. 30, for payment
this school year: submit
Gail Cope Teacher Grant applications.
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Rules
All rules in one
document
Rules for the 7 virtual events in one document
Show
your love for the Texas German contest system by producing a promotional video
and entering our contest. You could win $250!
Click here for the contest guidelines.
Teachers must
collect and submit this
Consent and
Release of Liability form for each student who participates in any
virtual event at Houstonfest (and State). (This applies only to students
entering one of the seven virtual events, but if for simplicity's sake you
decide to collect them from all your students, that's certainly fine.) The forms
of all students participating in virtual events from each school must be scanned
or otherwise consolidated into ONE PDF document and submitted no later than
the virtual-submission deadline
using this
Google Form. The initial submission will also be good for the State
contest (no need to resubmit for State).
General rules:
-
All participants in Houstonfest are
responsible for taking care of and keeping up with their own belongings. Neither the host school (Kingwood High School), its German teacher
David Kniess, Houstonfest, Houstonfest director Rustin Buck, the
Houstonfest steering committee, nor the umbrella organization Texas
State German Contests, Inc.
is
responsible for items lost or left behind at the contest.
-
Only German teachers may register
students for Houstonfest; we do not accept registration from individual
students.
-
Any German teacher who registers
one or more contestants must attend Houstonfest and serve as a judge (unless the
director grants an exemption, which will be done only in extremely extraordinary
situations).
-
Teachers should follow their school district's policy
regarding student eligibility to participate in contests.
-
Each contestant...
-
must be in grade 7*, 8, 9, 10, 11,
or 12 ( * 7th-graders may enter if they are
enrolled in a course that earns them credit for German I by the end of
7th grade, i.e., they will move on to German II in 8th grade; students
who are taking German 1a in 7th grade and will continue to German 1b in
8th grade should wait until their 8th-grade year to start entering
contest);
-
must be a student at a school
where the registering teacher works;
-
must be currently enrolled in
a German course at that school, or if not, must have previously completed at
least two years of German instruction AND be a current member of that
school's German Club or German NHS. There are two exceptions to this:
A Classical Ensemble may contain one
"wild-card" student who is not currently taking and has not previously
taken German. A Polka Band may contain up to two
such "wild-card" students. "Wild-card" entries are allowed only in
these two events.
The spirit of the foregoing
rule is to prevent a school from stacking its entries with "mercenary" artists, dancers, musicians,
writers, etc. who have no real connection to the school's German program in
order to bolster the team's entries. On the other hand, we do
not want to exclude the occasional student who loves German and who took two or
three years of it and who wants to continue participating in Houstonfest but
who, for whatever reason, is not currently taking German. Please note,
however, that any contestant not currently enrolled in a German course should be
entered in the level they would be in if they had continued taking
German. For example, if John stops taking German after completing German
III but still wants to enter Houstonfest the next year, he should be entered in
Level 4 events.
- For liability reasons, video recordings are not
allowed in any room where students are competing or performing. If
parents and/or teachers wish to record a performance, they should plan
on doing it during a rehearsal or performance at their respective
school.
The contest director may assign a designated contest
photographer to take pictures or video footage throughout contest for
informational or publicity purposes. This will be immediately submitted
to the director on contest day. No student faces may be used from this
footage.
However, the contest director will accept video segments as well as
still photos from individual schools after contest has occurred (to be
used for promotional purposes, e.g., on the website). By submitting
these, teachers give permission for Houstonfest and Texas State
German Contests, Inc. to use them for informational or publicity
purposes. Before submitting such photos/videos, teachers must make
sure that students have permission forms on file at their school
allowing for photos/videos to be used on the website.
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When is the next Houstonfest?
Saturday,
February 8, 2025 Where
is Houstonfest?
Kingwood High School
2701 Kingwood Dr.
Kingwood, TX 77339
(new location in 2025!)
Link to Texas State German Contest
Texas
State German Contest on Facebook
Texas
State German Contest 40th Anniversary Facebook Group |