On Saturday, March 7 students from Williamstown Middle School’s German program participated in a regional language competition and celebration at Shawnee High School in Medford, NJ. Students competed in language skits and a cultural quiz bowl, as well as less demanding potato relays, soccer kick, and gummy bear guess. Students also brought German desserts to be judged and shared with the 180 students from the area.
Students could learn a German folk dance, called D’Hammerschmiedgesell’n, or play a counting game in German. Groups from each participating school built a gingerbread house and painted a section of a mock Berlin Wall, as the theme this year honored 30 years since the wall in Berlin fell. If all that was too much excitement, students could watch German-language films to relax.
Competitions included individual and group recitations of original and published works at each level of learning. Quiz Bowl challenged students in English at middle school level with levels 1 and 2. The Quiz Bowl was in German for levels 3 and higher. Monroe Township German teachers Christine Webb (WMS) and Tamara Woitas (WHS) worked with students to prepare for the competitions.
As a featured bonus during the day, the students from Haddonfield Memorial High School had just won the prestigious PASCH award from the German Consulate in New York. They had a special presentation about breaking through “the Walls in our Minds” to be discussed in German and English.
