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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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History of
Houstonfest
by Rustin Buck, Director
I don't know much about the early days of Houstonfest. If you
have any information about Houstonfest in the years 1980 to 1995,
email me.
We do know that Houstonfest was
founded in 1980, the last of the three Texas regional contests to come
onto the scene.
Winterfest
(Dallas area) had begun in 1972 (although sources conflict on that date) and
Sprachfest
(Austin/San Antonio area) in 1976. The
Texas
State German Contest was held for the first time in 1982, bringing
together the winners of the three regional contests for a second level of
competition. See this
2024 research paper by Kaeden Thomas of Kingwood High School for more of the
story of what led to the founding of the three regional contests and the State
contest.
The first director of Houstonfest was
Paul Soechting, at that time the German teacher at El Campo High School in
El Campo. As far as I know, he directed 28 contests from 1980 through 2007.
I took over in fall 2007 upon Paul's retirement and directed my first contest in
2008. So far, I have directed 17 contests from 2008 through 2024.
When I first began coming to Houstonfest as
a first-year German teacher in 1996, it was held at Lanier Middle School
in Houston, but I don't know if it had always been there or, if not, when it
moved there. We stayed at Lanier through the 2015 contest, with one
exception in 2012 (a scheduling conflict at Lanier caused us to hold it that
year at my school at that time, Clements High School in Sugar Land). Beginning
in 2016, we moved to Heights High School in Houston (at the time
called Reagan High School) and stayed there through the 2024 contest, with two
exceptions: in 2018, because of a scheduling conflict at Heights, we held
Houstonfest at Hogg Middle School in Houston, and in 2021 and 2022 contest
was virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic and thus had no physical location.
Starting in 2025, we will begin a new era at Kingwood High School.
Houstonfest
Timeline
(with much
information about State as well since Houstonfest is inextricably tied to State)
| 1980 |
Houstonfest founded
with Paul Soechting, at that time German teacher at El Campo High
School in El Campo, as director. |
| 1981 |
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| 1982 |
Texas State German
Contest founded with Mary El-Beheri, at that time German
teacher at MacArthur High School in San Antonio, as director, held at
Crockett High School, Austin. |
| 1983 |
State at Crockett High
School, Austin. |
| 1984 |
State moves to the
University of Texas at Austin (through 1995). |
| 1985 |
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| 1986 |
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| 1987 |
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| 1988 |
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| 1989 |
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| 1990 |
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| 1991 |
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| 1992 |
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| 1993 |
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| 1994 |
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| 1995 |
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| 1996 |
Houstonfest Feb. 10,
Lanier Middle School, Houston (sweepstakes: large - ?, small -
?); State Mar. 2, Baylor University, Waco. |
| 1997 |
Houstonfest Feb. 8,
Lanier (sweepstakes: large - Clements HS, small - Taylor (TX)
HS); State Mar. 1, Baylor. |
| 1998 |
Houstonfest Feb. 14,
Lanier (sweepstakes: large - Bellaire HS, small - Taylor (TX)
HS); State Apr. 4, Baylor. |
| 1999 |
Houstonfest Feb. 6,
Lanier (sweepstakes: large - ?, small - ?); State Feb. 27,
Baylor. |
| 2000 |
Houstonfest Feb. 5,
Lanier (sweepstakes: large - Bellaire HS, small - ?); State
Feb. 26, Baylor. |
| 2001 |
Houstonfest Feb. 3,
Lanier (sweepstakes: large - Bellaire HS, small - ?); State
Feb. 24, Baylor. The Novice level of Pass auf! debuts at all
regionals (but its winners do not advance to State) and "Pass auf!"
becomes "Varsity Pass auf!". |
| 2002 |
Houstonfest Feb. 2,
Lanier (sweepstakes: large - ?, small - ?); State Feb. 23,
Baylor. Texas State German Contests, Inc., encompassing Houstonfest,
Sprachfest, Winterfest, and the Texas State German Contest, becomes a
Texas corporation. |
| 2003 |
Houstonfest Feb. 1,
Lanier (we learn, along with the rest of the world, of the break-up of
space shuttle Columbia that morning at 8:00 in the skies over
Texas; sweepstakes: large - ?, small - ?); State Feb. 22,
Baylor. |
| 2004 |
Houstonfest Feb. 7
(sweepstakes: large - ?, small - ?), Lanier; State Feb. 28,
Baylor. |
| 2005 |
Houstonfest Feb. 5,
Lanier (sweepstakes: large - ?, small - ?); State Feb. 26,
University of Texas at Austin. |
| 2006 |
Houstonfest Feb. 4,
Lanier (sweepstakes: large - ?, small - ?); State Feb. 25,
UT-Austin. |
|
2007 |
Houstonfest
Feb. 3, Lanier (last contest directed by Paul Soechting,
sweepstakes: large - ?, small - ?); State Feb. 24,
UT-Austin. Rustin Buck, at that point German teacher at Clements
High School in Sugar Land, succeeds Paul Soechting as director of
Houstonfest over the summer and launches the current Houstonfest
website. |
| 2008 |
Houstonfest Feb. 2,
Lanier (first contest directed by Rustin Buck, 621 students from 25
schools, sweepstakes: large - Clements HS, small - Friendswood
HS); State Feb. 23, UT-Austin. The first Houstonfest Scholarships
are awarded. This is also the first year I can document in my files the
existence of the Gail Cope Scholarships at State, although I
suspect they began at least one year earlier because I am almost certain
that I modeled the Houstonfest Scholarships on the Gail Cope Scholarships,
which means they couldn't have started the same year. In any event, Gail
Cope is a retired German teacher from Dallas (W.T. White High School) who
helped lay the foundation of Winterfest and State and who to this day
serves on the State Steering Committee and generously funds many aspects
of the Winterfest and State contests. |
| 2009 |
Houstonfest Feb. 7,
Lanier (668 students from 23 schools, sweepstakes: large - Clements
HS, small - Friendswood HS); State Feb. 28, UT-Austin. |
| 2010 |
Houstonfest Feb. 6,
Lanier (619 students from 24 schools, sweepstakes: large - Clements
HS, small - Lanier MS); State Feb. 27, UT-Austin. Houstonfest
begins a now long-standing tradition of having entertainment by the band "Das
ist lustig" as everyone waits for the awards presentation to
begin. Texas State German Contests, Inc., the umbrella organization to
which Houstonfest belongs, is designated a 501(c)(3) public charity
by the IRS. |
| 2011 |
Houstonfest Feb. 5,
Lanier (646 students from 24 schools registered, sweepstakes: large -
Clements HS, small - Lanier MS); State Feb. 26, UT-Austin.
Severe winter weather before and on Feb. 5 results in some schools
being unable to attend Houstonfest (and the postponement of Winterfest by
a week). Students who are unable to attend Houstonfest receive "wildcard"
qualification to compete at State. |
| 2012 |
Houstonfest Feb. 4,
Clements High School, Sugar Land (550 students from 20 schools, venue
change to director Rustin Buck's school due to scheduling conflict at
Lanier, sweepstakes: large - Clements HS, small - Friendswood
HS); State Feb. 25, UT-Austin. Events Crafts, Original Models,
and Photography debut at regionals and State. The sweepstakes
system receives a major overhaul (approved by the State Steering Committee
in 2011). On Feb. 21, days before the State contest, Mary El-Beheri,
the founding director of Sprachfest and the Texas State German Contest,
dies. A memorial scholarship in her name is created in 2013. Jennifer
Christianson succeeds her as executive director of State and, for a
number of years, also as director of Sprachfest. |
| 2013 |
Houstonfest Feb. 2,
Lanier (713 students from 25 schools, sweepstakes: large - Kingwood
HS, small - Friendswood HS); State Feb. 23, UT-Austin. Event
Einzeltanz (then called Einzelplattler) debuts at
Houstonfest. |
| 2014 |
Houstonfest Feb. 1,
Lanier (595 students from 21 schools, sweepstakes: large - Clements
HS, small - Lanier MS); State Feb. 22, UT-Austin. Event
Contemporary Music debuts at regionals and State. Events Oral
Presentation 4 and Pair Discussion debut at Houstonfest. Event
Scavenger Hunt is overhauled to its current format (hunting four QR-codes
that lead to four videos that teams must watch and then take a quiz over)
but is not held at the State level this year. Houstonfest introduces the
Klein aber fein trophy for schools entering 5-15 students
and a cash prize for the top Rookie School and Rookie Teacher
of the year. |
| 2015 |
Houstonfest Feb. 7,
Lanier (728 students from 26 schools, sweepstakes: large - Kingwood
HS, small - Reagan (Heights) HS); State Feb. 28, Texas State
University, San Marcos. We are not aware at the time that it will be
our last time holding Houstonfest at Lanier Middle School, so we don't
have a chance to properly thank our long-time host, Lanier German teacher
Niels Nielsen, for his many years of service. Severe winter
weather prevents some schools (mostly from the Winterfest region and
some from the Sprachfest region) from attending State. Event Digital
Logo Design debuts at Houstonfest. Event Einzeltanz and
the overhauled format of Scavenger Hunt debut at State. |
| 2016 |
Houstonfest Feb. 6,
Heights High School, Houston (then called Reagan High School) (674
students from 25 schools, sweepstakes: 1. Festliga - Kingwood HS,
2. Festliga - College Park HS, 3. Festliga - Seven Lakes
HS); State Feb. 27, Texas State. Events Digital Logo Design and
Pair Discussion debut at State; event Oral Presentation 4 is shelved
for a year. The first food trucks make their appearance at
Houstonfest. Bubble Soccer - just for fun - also makes the first of
two appearances. Houstonfest begins a two-year experiment with a different
way of awarding sweepstakes, a three-tiered system (1. Festliga,
2. Festliga, 3. Festliga) modeled on the German soccer system
of 1. Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga, and 3. Liga. Schools
are assigned to a Festliga for 2016 based on their 2015 results and
receive trophies within their Festliga. Further, one school each is
to be promoted from the 3. Festliga to the 2. Festliga and
from the 2. Festliga to the 1. Festliga each year, while one
school each is to be demoted from the 1. Festliga to the 2.
Festliga and from the 2. Festliga to the 3. Festliga
each year. |
| 2017 |
Houstonfest Feb. 4,
Heights (708 students from 22 schools, sweepstakes: 1. Festliga -
Kingwood HS, 2. Festliga - Morton Ranch HS, 3. Festliga -
The Woodlands HS); State Feb. 25, Texas State. Event Oral
Presentation 4 reappears with new rules at Houstonfest. Bubble
Soccer makes its second (and last) appearance at Houstonfest. A
statewide "Folk Dance Summit" in April results in a heavily revised
scoring system for the event Folk Dance, effective in 2018. |
| 2018 |
Houstonfest Feb. 3,
Hogg Middle School, Houston (704 students from 24 schools, venue
change due to scheduling conflict at Heights with invaluable assistance
from Hogg German teacher Alison Wimmer Schmieder, sweepstakes:
large - Kingwood HS, small - Morton Ranch HS); State Feb.
24, Texas State. Houstonfest returns to the usual two sweepstakes
divisions, Small School and Large School. Event Oral Presentation 4
debuts at State. State begins to sponsor a Promotional Video contest in
which schools can win a cash prize for making a video that teachers can
show to students to create interest in participating in contest; the
winner is determined by voting at the State awards assembly. On August 29,
Terry Smith, the long-time statewide coordinator of Pass auf!,
dies. The first-place State Pass auf! trophy is designated as the
Terry Smith Memorial Trophy and, starting in 2019, begins to come with a
$250 memorial prize. |
| 2019 |
Houstonfest Feb. 2,
Heights (652 students from 23 schools, sweepstakes: large - Kingwood
HS, small - Clements HS); State Feb. 25, Texas State. Event
Advantaged Speaker Test debuts at Houstonfest and State. |
| 2020 |
Houstonfest Feb. 8,
Heights (560 students from 21 schools, sweepstakes: large - Kingwood
HS, small - Clements HS); State Feb. 29, Texas State. Event Play
is contested for the last time. Event Timed Writing debuts at
Houstonfest. Although it is already in the news in February, little do we
know that the chaos and tragedy of COVID-19 will turn our world
upside-down a few weeks later. |
| 2021 |
Houstonfest Feb. 6, held
virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic (166 students from 12
schools, sweepstakes: large - Heights HS, small - Clements
HS); State Feb. 27, also virtual. Only 41 of the usual 88 events
are conducted: speaking events and Timed Writing are held "live" via
Zoom while art events, declamation events (memory and reading events
consolidated into simply "Poetry" and "Prose"), Contemporary Music (for
individual performers only), Duet Acting, Research Paper, Video Show, and
Vocal Solo entries are submitted via a Google Form through PDFs
containing pictures or links to YouTube or Vimeo recordings.
Duet Acting switches from being held for levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 to
being held for Lower and Upper levels. Winners are announced via videos (Houstonfest
video recorded by director Rustin Buck from his home, State video recorded
by several State leaders at Texas State University). Ribbons, medals, and
trophies from both contests are mailed or, in most cases, delivered in
person to each school by director Rustin Buck. One unanticipated outcome
is that we realize that a handful of events are actually well-suited to
online submission and judging; the State Steering Committee decides later
in the year to designate Digital Logo Design, Oral Presentation 4, Photo
Essay, Poetry Reading 1-4, Prose Reading 1-4, Research Paper, and Video
Show as "virtual events" on a permanent basis (for a total of 13
virtual events). |
| 2022 |
Houstonfest Feb. 5,
virtual (369 students from 19 schools, sweepstakes: large - Heights
HS, small - Tompkins HS); State Feb. 26, also virtual. The original
plan formulated in fall 2021 is to return to in-person contests (while
keeping 13 events permanently virtual), but the rise of the Omicron
variant of COVID-19 at the end of 2021 causes the State Steering
Committee to pivot in early January to entirely virtual contests (regional
and State) for a second year. A broader spectrum of events than in 2021 is
offered (53 of the usual 88 events including a unique version of
Varsity Pass auf! conducted live online via Kahoot! plus, for
the only time ever, Timed Writing 3 and 4 for a total of 55 events).
Written tests (other than Timed Writing), Scavenger Hunt, Novice Pass
auf!, and the memory categories of the declamation events are not
held. Event Chorus is contested for the last time. A generous donor
funds a pronunciation contest (named Leidenschaft der Aussprache as
the result of a separate "contest to name the contest") with prizes
totaling $10,500 (top prize $4000); the goal is to encourage students to
work specifically on their German pronunciation. Although the contest runs
smoothly, it requires a lot of extra organizational work, and the donor
decides not to continue it after its first year. As if the pandemic
weren't enough, matters are further complicated by severe winter
weather that forces schools in the Houston area to close on Friday,
Feb. 4, the day before virtual submissions for Houstonfest are due, but we
muddle through as best we can; the other regions have similar problems.
The Houstonfest awards show is streamed live from Heights High School,
emceed by director Rustin Buck and Heights German teacher Mark Johnson
with a live "studio audience" of enthusiastic Heights students, while the
State awards show is again recorded as a video by the four regional and
State contest directors at Texas State University. Awards from both
contests are again delivered to each school by director Rustin Buck. The
Houston Saengerbund awards Houstonfest a $2000 grant to fund the
Houstonfest Scholarships since declining registration totals mean that the
scholarships can no longer be covered by the registration fees. |
| 2023 |
After the long COVID
hiatus, we finally return to in-person contests: Houstonfest Feb.
4, Heights (450 students from 17 schools, sweepstakes: large - Kingwood
HS, small - Tompkins HS), State Feb. 25, Texas State. This is the
first chance to implement our new hybrid model in which most events
are conducted in person but a handful are always conducted virtually
(originally intended to launch in 2022). Event Oral Presentation
Advantaged debuts at regionals and State as a virtual event, bringing
the total of virtual events to 14. Houstonfest switches from emailed Excel
spreadsheets to shared Google Sheets for registration. The Houston
Saengerbund again awards Houstonfest a $2000 grant for scholarships as
well as eight $300 grants to individual schools to help with their
transportation costs to contest. |
| 2024 |
Houstonfest Feb. 3,
Heights (483 students from 18 schools, sweepstakes: large - Kingwood
HS, small - Tompkins HS); State Feb. 24, Texas State. We say "Auf
Wiedersehen" to Heights High School as our venue and thank Heights
German teacher Mark Johnson for his many years as host. It is
announced that Houstonfest will move to Kingwood High School
starting in 2025 where it will be hosted by Kingwood German teacher
David Kniess. The Houston Saengerbund awards Houstonfest an $1800
grant for scholarships. |
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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 |