Every year, McIntosh High School allows it’s German students to take a field trip to State German Convention, which is the largest German convention in all of Georgia. The convention is held to bring German students together all over Georgia to celebrate the culture and language of Germany together. While the students must pay a price to attend the convention, it covers the bus drive there, a place to sleep for a night, and meals.

On Feb 1, students in Herr Keough’s German class met around 8 in the morning to hop on to the bus they would be driving for the next few hours. As they drove to SCG they picked up other German students from schools in Georgia.

As soon as they arrived at Camp Jackson, the first day of State German Convention began. Activities such as trivia, card games, and board games were all played in German. After the activities, students were treated to dinner before the main events of the night could begin. The first rounds of the quiz bowl began and the students formed teams to represent their schools. Questions all about different aspects of German history and culture were asked and the teams who could answer the most questions quickly would move on to the finals the following day. Soon after performances were held in the main hall and groups from almost all the schools performed skits and lip sync dances. After a long day of traveling and participating in activities Keough’s students, along with all the other German students, returned to their cabins at Camp Jackson to get some rest.

The next day held even more exciting activities than the last. After sleeping for about five hours, the students went to breakfast before their eventful last day at SGC. In the main hall, representatives spoke to them about different programs for German students. Some of which included traveling to Germany or Austria. After that, the competitions began. There was vocabulary competitions, role play, trivia, a spelling bee, extemporary speaking, story retelling, partner work, and poetry resuscitation. All of which was done completely in the German language. After some lunch, and a little packing up, the final rounds of the quiz bowl began. For participating in the activities and events, the students were able to redeem stamps they had collected for prizes and treats near the end of the convention. After loading up the buses SCG had an award ceremony for those who did the best in the competitive activities. McIntosh brought home four awards for performing the best in different activities.

Two days had passed and yet every moment was spent enjoying and celebrating the German Language with fellow German students. After so much had gone on, the German students who attended from McIntosh tell us how they felt:

“My absolute favorite part of State German Convention was the competitions. I felt that my German skills were truly being put to the test” says German IV student, Joey Deprano. “I wanted to go and see what it was all about for my first time. Since I’m graduating it would be my last opportunity to attend and I didn’t want to give up that chance. It was so worth it”

Because McIntosh allows for their students to go to State German Convention, Joey was able to make the decision to go and thoroughly enjoyed every second being there.

“I think that every student in a German class should take the opportunity to go. It’s just one of those things that you won’t ever forget. The amount of fun you have and the connections you make with students who enjoy a foreign language as much as you do is absolutely priceless” says Senior, Luke Wonderley.

SGC is a perfect opportunity for a student to realize just how real the language they are learning is. As always, McIntosh had a phenomenal time visiting SGC this year and hope for an even better time next year. If you are interested in learning the German Language or State German Convention, stop by Herr Keough’s class and he would be more than happy to speak with you about the amazing opportunities McIntosh gives to those interested in German. Auf wiedersehen!