News and Updates
Changes and updates for 2024 (new!)
Contest
Promo Video #1 (students from one school tell why they
love contest)
Contest Promo
Video #2 (one student tells why she loves contest)
Teacher-to-Teacher Tips
Houstonfest Scholarships
Scholarships at State
State Promo Video Contest
Tips for Pair Discussion
Arrival at Heights High School
Lunch options
Daily log of changes to
state-qualifier list
Photo Gallery
Important Dates
Tue., Jan. 16, 2024, 11:59
p.m.: 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).
Tue., Jan. 30, 2024, 11:59 p.m.: Remote
judging of the 7 virtual Houstonfest events ends.
Wed., Jan. 31, 2024, 9:00 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 State payment.
Sat., Feb. 17, 2024, 9:00 a.m.:
Submission of entries in the 7 virtual State events due (get link to
Google Form from your teacher). Also,
Mary El-Beheri Memorial Scholarship
applications due.
Mon., Feb. 19, 2024, 8:00 p.m.:
Entries in
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:
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). (Technically, 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 from each
school must be scanned or otherwise consolidated into ONE PDF document
and submitted before the
date of the regional contest
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 (Heights High School), its German teacher Mark
Johnson, 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 3, 2024 Where
is Houstonfest?
Heights High School
413 E. 13th Street, Houston, TX
77008
Link to Texas State German Contest
Texas
State German Contest on Facebook
Texas
State German Contest 40th Anniversary Facebook Group |