On Saturday, Feb. 4, German students attended Sprachfest, in San Antonio. Sprachfest, which has been occurring annually for over 45 years, is a German contest. 284 students from over 15 Central Texas schools competed in over 90 events, ranging from gingerbread house making, needlework, and traditional German folk dance, to presentational speaking, spelling, and written tests. In addition to individual awards, Westwood won second place in Sweepstakes, which is calculated by the total points won by each school. 

“It was a good bonding activity to meet other German people and to work with the people in [our] German society,” Leila Tavasoli ‘25 said. “We got to work together to go against other schools and that was a fun experience.”

Despite difficulties caused by the winter storm, this year was Sprachfest’s first in-person competition since the pandemic.

“It was well put together and it was better organized [than last year] because [the competition was] virtual last year,” Mason Jacob ‘25 said.

On Feb. 24, the top five winners from each category will advance to the Texas State German Contest in San Marcos to compete against the winners of the Houstonfest and Winterfest.

Below is a list of students who advanced: 

Sweepstakes: Westwood High School (2nd place)

Advantaged Speakers Test: Lena Boas ‘25 (1st Place) and Dominic Schwarzenbach ‘24 (2nd place)

Culture 4: Kritanko Chakraborty (1st place)

Reading Comprehension 4: Kritanko Chakraborty ‘25 (1st place) and Maalolan Parthasarathi (5th place)

Grammar 4: Kritanko Chakraborty ‘25 (1st place), Sanjana Iyer ‘25 (4th place), and Mason Jacob ‘25 (6th place)

Spelling 4: Kritanko Chakraborty ‘25 (1st place), Aleks Tremmel ‘25 (4th place)

Vocal Solo: Kritanko Chakraborty ‘25 (2nd place)

Prose Reading 4: Sanjana Iyer ‘25 (2nd place), Zachary Gawaiser ‘24 (8th place), Leila Tavasoli (10th place

Sight Reading 4: Sanjana Iyer ‘25 (1st place), Annalise Breyer ‘25 (2nd place)

Vocabulary 4: Sanjana Iyer ‘25 (2nd place), Maalolan Parthasarathi ‘25 (4th place)

Poetry Memory 4: Mason Jacob ‘25 (1st place), Zachary Gawaiser ‘26 (4th place)

Prose Memory 4: Zachary Gawaiser ‘24 (2nd place)

Prose Reading 4:  Zachary Gawaiser ‘24 (8th place)

Listening Comprehension: Alex Tremmel (7th place)

Extemporaneous Speaking Advantaged: Lena Boas ‘25 (1st place), Dominic Schwarzenbach ‘24 (2nd place)

Oral Presentation Advantaged: Lena Boas ‘25 (1st place)

Poetry Memory Advantaged: Dominic Schwarzenbach ‘24 (1st place)

Poetry Reading 4: Leila Tavasoli’ 25 (10th place)

Sight Reading 1: Jonas Lesher ‘26 (1st place)

Shirt Design: Iris Wang ‘26 (2nd place)

Pass Auf Varsity (German Jeopardy): (2nd place) Mason Jacob ‘25, Annalise Breyer ‘25, Zachary Gawaiser 5, Aleksandra Tremmel ‘25, Maalolan Parthasarathi ‘25

Video Show: (2nd place) Annalise Breyer ‘25, Aleksandra Tremmel ‘25, Bidita Majumdar ‘25, Henry Grundmann ‘25, Leila Tavisoli ‘25, Maalolan Parthasarathi ‘25, Mason Jacob ‘25