Martin places fourth at state contest
Sprechen sie Deutsch? (Do you speak German?)
More than likely, you don’t. But there are a bunch of students in the Arlington ISD who do, including nine from Martin High School whose team recently placed fourth at the Texas State German Contest at Texas State University in San Marcos.
The students qualified for the 43rd annual academic event at a regional match and then competed against hundreds of other high school students from across the state in a variety of contests in San Marcos, from poetry memorization to oral presentations.
Speaking of oral presentations, Marin senior Miah Shaffer won the state championship.
“The San Marcos State Competition went super well!” Shaffer said. “I had actually never been to an in-person state competition despite my previous four years in the program, so to get to take the trip to the Texas State University campus and compete in every event I advanced in was a really good experience.”
Andrea Bonner, Martin’s German teacher and German Academic Competition team coach, couldn’t have been prouder of Shaffer and her fellow Warriors.
“They always do wonderfully and make me proud, and they almost always win!” Bonner said. “There’s such dedication and enthusiasm in these kids for just going and doing it.”
Their dedication is “unglaublich” (incredible) even though winning these competitions doesn’t bring many accolades. The German competitions are not UIL events, and they’re not sports that have fans who cheer on the participants. Even still, these students are passionate and give it their all.
“These kids spend their own time preparing and competing at an intense level,” Bonner said. “They memorize poems, they study extra vocab and grammar, they write research papers, they practice their interview skills – all of this in a foreign language – and all of it just for fun … just to be able to say, ‘I can do this better in German than anyone.’ It’s a unique boast. And it’s cool!”
Why German?
The German students actually get a lot more out of studying German that just a cool boast. It provides practical language skills that will open doors in their future, and, for some, help maintain their family heritage.
“Learning a language expands one’s world view and enhances global awareness, as well as teaches people more about the diversity of cultures in the world,” Shaffer said.
It can also help with college applications and career opportunities. German is an official language of the European Union, and the Unites States maintains close business and trade relations with Germany.
All of that is part of the reason ninth grader Eva Warren is taking German. Warren won first place for prose at the German competition.
“This is a skill that will maybe help me in the future as it looks good to colleges and may help me speak if I go to Europe,” Warren said.
Warren, like many of her classmates, was also drawn to German because of her German ancestry.
“Germans played a huge part in the development of Texas,” Bonner points out. “Not all of our German Texas heritage is located down in the Hill Country around New Braunfels and Fredericksburg. Even North Texas was hugely populated by German communities throughout the 1800s (like Muenster, Lukenbach, Boerne).”
For ninth grader Jayden Harris, his German heritage is much closes than the 1800s.
“I am taking German in high school because my great grandmother is originally from Germany, and I really want to be able to communicate with her in her mother tongue.”
Regardless of their motivations for studying German, the students all recommend it.
“I would definitely recommend taking German in high school,” said 10th grader Henry Lyons. “It is a very fun class.”
Why is it so “spaß” (fun)? One of the biggest reasons is the teacher, Andrea Bonner. Her passion for the language and her students is contagious.
“I love German,” Bonner said. “I love the culture and the history. I love the people and the cities. The best feeling is to be able to travel in the world and communicate in their languages. German is my passion, and some of these contest winners might go on to study German in college, and that would make me happy and proud as well. For the time being, I will enjoy the few years I get with them and have some ‘out-of-class laughs’ on our yearly trip to San Marcos to compete … it’s always the highlight of my year!”