Feb. 11, 2003

Contact: William Keel, Germanic Languages and Literatures, (785) 864-4803.

KU to host annual German language contest Feb. 22

LAWRENCE -- More than 300 high school German language students will attend the annual Schuelerkongress at 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, at the University of Kansas.

Schuelerkongress, which translates to "student congress," is a daylong event that includes contests in poetry recitation, prose reading, oral language proficiency, spelling, poster making, and cultural tests covering geography, history and cuisine.

William Keel, chair of Germanic languages and literatures, said the event is important because some school districts are considering restricting foreign language courses because of budget constraints. He said the idea of cutting back is ironic as globalization becomes increasingly important in the business world.

Keel said that few of the poems and prose the students will recite would be readily recognized by the general public but that some of the poets would be known to residents in towns with large settlements of German immigrants. He said Ellinwood has streets named for famous Germans, including the poets Humboldt, Schiller, Goethe, Wieland and Bismarck. What is now Kennedy Street was once known as Arndt Street, after poet Ernst Moritz Arndt.

A Kansas City family recently donated some of Arndt's personal effects and letters to the Max Kade Center for German-American Studies at KU. Arndt's son Hartmuth emigrated in 1855 and died in Wyandotte County in 1876.

Arndt also is the namesake of the Ernst Moritz Arndt University in Greifswald, Germany, where Walter Erhart, KU guest professor of German for the spring semester, teaches.

Faculty and graduate teaching assistants from KU's Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures will serve as judges for the contests. Top competitors receive awards at a 1:30 p.m. ceremony.

The Kansas Association of Teachers of German sponsors the daylong event in cooperation with the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures.

Schools planning to compete in the 2003 Schuelerkongress are:

Abilene High School
Blue Valley High School
Blue Valley Northwest High School
Buhler High School
Derby High School
Hays High School
Junction City High School
Lawrence High School
Lawrence West Junior High School
Lyons High School
Maize High School
McPherson High School
Newton High School
Olathe North High School
Seaman High School
Shawnee Mission South High School
Smoky Valley High School (Lindsborg)
Sumner Academy of Arts and Sciences (Kansas City, Kan.)
Topeka West High School
Washburn Rural High School
Wichita East High School
Wichita Northwest High School