On March 10, 2017, the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures hosted its annual German Day.

German Day 2017 by the numbers:

  • This was our 33rd German Day!

  • Nearly 900 students competed from 28 area schools.

  • 14 competitions including sing-along videos, comics, spelling bee, art, skits, music, videos, etc.

  • 12 generous sponsors

  • 42 staff and faculty members served as volunteer judges.

  • Over 100 U-M student volunteers helped as ushers, doorkeepers, runners and photographers.

With the theme of Jugend, it all added up to another rousing success for German Day.

Teacher of the Year

The 2017 Teacher of the Year award was given to Deborah Schultz from International Academy.

Be-troit Presentation

Christiane Gant, LLMSW, and Dr. Larry M. Gant, Professor of Social Work and Professor of Art and Design, were the speakers at the welcome assembly. They talked about the Be-troit project.

Photo Album

View photos from the day on our Facebook page!

German Day 2017 Photo Album

German Day 2017 Winners

Please pardon any typos; the winners’ information was transcribed as accurately as possible from contestants’ and many judges’ handwriting. If you find an error, please notify us at german.day@umich.edu.

Art – Group 1

1st Place: Anna Catenacci & Angela Doncic – Viele kleine Leute – Eisenhower High School

2nd Place: Madison Nacker & Julia Siegle – Auf unseren Schultern – Eisenhower High School

3rd Place: Emma Clemente – Schule – St. Francis Cabrini

Art – Group 2

1st Place: Maria Canzano – Der verloren gegangene Schlaf – Rudolf Steiner High School

2nd Place: Olivia Northrup – Vorstellen – Parkside Middle School

3rd Place: Ruby Holyszko & Louise Scoville – Junge Mode in Wandel der Zeiten – Pioneer High School

Comics

1st Place: Taleon K., Luke L., Josh S. – Pioneer High School

2nd Place: Michael Streng – Lakeland High School

3rd Place: Calee O. – Edsel Ford High School

Commercials – Level 1

1st Place: Esther Crawford & Thomas Gzybowski – Rudolf Steiner School

2nd Place: Kayla Everett, Angelina Sarcovich, Kaylee Farge – Hartland High School

3rd Place – Imani Blair, Lily Cramer, Angela Lee, Paris Carter – Tappan Middle School

Commercials – Level 2

1st place: Melody Vachon, PJ Weertz, Issa Pizzamenti, David Cornier, Tayah Montgomery – Detroit Waldorf School

2nd Place: Sam, Logan, Natalie, James, Scotty, Darren – Pioneer High School

3rd Place: Jacob Sendra et al – Pioneer High School

Commercials – Level 3

1st Place: Ellie Bauer, Kate Conley, Jessie Lyons – Saline High School

2nd Place: William Schoenow – Frankenmuth High School

3rd Place: Evan Kolin, Ivan Wang, Jack Smitterberg, Devin Lamorieux – International Academy

Commercials – Level 4

1st Place: Greta Klans, Nicole Powell – Sanne’s German Works

2nd Place: Carley Eichhorn, Sam Wisnewski, Julia Siegle – Eisenhower High School

3rd Place: Adnan, Carmen Rosa, Gabi – International Academy

German for all

1st Place: Molly Page – Hartland High School

2nd Place: Max Anderson, Noah Cook, Kirstin Kortberg, Cathy Dager, Sophia Tiglao, Jack Fenelon, Jessie Lyons, Ellie Bauer, Kate Conley – Saline High School 

3rd Place: Deutsch 3 und 4 – Manchester High School

Music – Group 1

1st Place: Xander Salsitre – Tappan Middle School

2nd Place: Clarkston High School, Polka Troupe

3rd Place: Trevor Schulz – Hartland High School

Honorable Mention: Kaylee Furge & Gina Sarcevich – Hartland High School

Music – Group 2

1st Place: Charles Berofsky, et al – Huron High School

2nd Place: William Fishwide – Grosse Pointe North High School

3rd Place: Richard & Cayenne Teeter – Hartland High School

Poetry – Level 1

1st Place: Alex Coffey – Rudolf Steiner School

2nd Place: Thomas Gzybowsi – Rudolf Steiner School

3rd Place: Jon Hartman – Hartland High School

Poetry – Level 2

1st Place: Teresa Frikke – Pioneer High School

2nd Place: Itzel Rosas – Rudolf Steiner School

3rd Place: Logan Malone – Clarkston Junior High

Poetry – Level 3

1st Place: Julia Graham – Rudolf Steiner School

2nd Place: Lauren Kreeger – Hartland High School

3rd Place: Max Rothe van Deventer – Deutsche Schule Ann Arbor

Poetry – Level 4

1st Place: Stephanie Lux – International Academy

2nd Place: Jessica Lyons – Saline High School

3rd Place: Patrick O’Daniel – Clarkston High School

Reading – Level 1

1st Place: Tomas Stegemann – Huron High School

2nd Place: Olivia Rosier – Rudolf Steiner School

3rd Place: Nordine Samuel – International Academy

Reading – Level 2

1st Place: Mikaeyla Connolly – International Academy

2nd Place: Madison Richardson – Hartland High School

3rd Place: Joanna Sulimin – Pioneer High School

Reading – Level 3

1st Place: Julia Graham – Rudolf Steiner School

2nd Place: Kasla Moore – Detroit Waldorf School

3rd Place: Rachel McDowell – International Academy

Honorable Mention/Native Speaker: Lena Hoppe – International Academy, Cathanna Guenther – Huron High School

Reading – Level 4

1st Place: Sophia Tiglao – Saline High School

2nd Place: Deborah Fagan – Rudolf Steiner School

3rd Place: Audry Rakozy – Grosse Pointe North High School

Honorable Mentions: Sophie Kripfgans – Deutsche Schule, Max Rothe van Deventer – Deutsche Schule

Sing-Along Videos

1st Place: Erich Laux, Zoe Neirink, Nehemiah Baldwin, Allison Rousseau, Olivia Cirisan – Ich lass los – Frankenmuth High School

2nd Place: Steven Wang, Brendan Flanagan, Fernanda Perrone, Pablo Aquiles, Caroline Yu – 80 Millionen Parodie – Pioneer

3rd Place: Erica Brehmer, Hannah, Tayah, Melody und Haleigh – Du hasst – Detroit Waldorf School

Skits – Level 1

1st Place: Die Jugend von heute – Rudolf Steiner Lower School

2nd Place: Der Fischer und seine Frau – Ore Creek Middle School

3rd Place: Das Einkaufszentrum – Detroit Waldorf School

Skits – Level 2

1st Place: Die Fahrpraxis – Hartland High School

2nd Place: Die Handyzeitmaschine – Detroit Waldorf School

3rd Place: Wo ist Frau Zahn? – Rudolf Steiner High School

Skits – Level 3

1st Place: Der Frühstücksclub – Frankenmuth High School

2nd Place: Lesen wie die Deutschen – Saline High School

3rd Place: Der bunte Planet – Rudolf Steiner High School

Skits – Level 4

1st Place: Die Zeitmaschine – Frankenmuth High School

2nd Place: Die Jugendherberge – Clarkston High School

3rd Place: Besuch im Altersheim – International Academy

Speaking – Level 1

1st Place: Miguel Uribe – Hartland High School

2nd Place: Owen Johnson – Tappan Middle School

3rd Place: Ariel Mobius – Pioneer High School

Speaking – Level 2

1st Place: Teresa Frikke-Schmidt – Pioneer High School

2nd Place: Emily Horst – Hartland High School

3rd Place: Tricia Becker – Saline High School

Honorable Mention: Spencer Landry – Lakeland High School

Speaking – Level 3

1st Place: Audry Rakozy – Grosse Pointe North

2nd Place: Julia Graham – Rudolf Steiner School

3rd Place: Jacob Keller – International Academy

Speaking – Level 4

1st Place: Giorgiana Guenther – Huron High School

2nd Place: Elizabeth Helfrich – International Academy

3rd Place: Felicity Reeve – International Academy

Honorable Mention: Vanessa Six – Lakeland High School, Max Rothe van Deventer – Deutsche Schule

Spelling Bee – Level 1

1st Place: Ayden Mooney – Hartland High School

2nd Place: Vicky Wang – Pioneer High School

3rd Place: Abigail Wabraven – Middle School at Parkside

Spelling Bee – Level 2

1st Place: Nikhil Dwibhashyam – International Academy

2nd Place: Stephanie Wong – Rochester High School

3rd Place: Zander Rose – Eisenhower High School

Spelling Bee – Native Speaker

1st Place: Sophie Kripfgans – Deutsche Schule

2nd Place: Devin Lamoreux – International Academy

3rd Place: Christine Devriel – Pioneer High School

Videos – Anfänger

1st Place: Samantha Harvey, Aislinn Bell, und Kai Klink – Akzeptieren – Hartland High School

2nd Place: Robert Janz – Was ist die Jugend? – Michigan Center High School- 

3rd Place: Mackenzie Miller, Hannah Wenzel, Gabby Harris, und Meghan Stange – Heute an Deutsch TV  – Frankenmuth HIgh School

Videos – Fortgeschrittene

1st Place: Rachel Allen, Claudia Pierce, Stephen Asplund, Cole Zimmer, Skylyr Zink, Claudia Walz, Joe Grebe, Sam Kominars – Beethoven und die Superjugend – Manchester High School

2nd Place: Olivia Robinson, Benjamin Van Heusden, Trevor Schultz, Andrew MacLean, Lauren Chapman, Eric Schumann – Der Jungbrunnen – Hartland High School

3rd Place: Nolan, Hunter, Madeline – Aktenzeichen XY ungelöst – Edsel Ford High School

+ Owain Kert, Bella Wilson, Brett Furge, Bryce Watson, Caleb Krueger, Sam Vestergaard – Die Junggesellin – Hartland High School

Website – Anfaenger

1st place: Nels Erickson, Gavin Kushmaul, Ben Barish and Jonathan Awwad – Wilkommen Jugend! – Pioneer

2nd Place: Michael Schmidt, Will Eiden, Saeed Ebrahim – Deutsche Jugend und Skateboardfahren – Pioneer

3rd Place: Manish Venumuddula – Die Weisse Rose – Pioneer

Website – Fortgeschrittene

1st Place: Jake Houtman und Matt Rittmueller – Die Jugend von Deustchland und Amerika – Hartland High School

2nd Place: Amith Dayananda, Nikhil Dwibhashyam – Jugend Für Alle – International Academy

3rd Place: Emma Pinnell, Hui Yoo – Deutsche Jugend – Pioneer High School

Zines

1st Place: Riya Bhutani, Steven Wang, Ferhanda Perrone – Pioneer High School

2nd Place: Lauren Barnes, Devin Montgomery, Madisyn Crawford – Lakeland High School

3rd Place: Klasse – Deutsche Schule

Lola Shoemaker and Hannah Melletat – St. Frances Cabrini High School