Whitney High School German students competed at the Winterfest Regional German Contest hosted by Dallas College Mountainview Campus last month.
Under the tutelage of their new German teacher, Frau Kathryn Ferriere, and Dance Coach Haley Becker, the 2026 Whitney German team dominated at regionals in all the Sportfest events and also won first place overall sweepstakes for small school German programs.
Every year, roughly 1,000 German students from middle and high schools throughout Texas compete in 36 events representing a wide range of interests, including competitions in music, folk dance, academic knowledge, arts and crafts, extemporaneous and conversational speaking, skits and declamation.
Participants compete at their level of German and are awarded ribbons and trophies in individual and group events. Schools receive sweepstakes points based on their success and compete for overall sweepstakes honors. Students who rank in the top five in an event at one of the three regional contests are eligible to compete at theTexas State German Contest in San Marcos. The North Texas Regional Winterfest was first held in 1972, Sprachfest was added in 1976 and Houstonfest in 1980. The Texas State German Contest was introduced in 1982 to allow students to move to the next level of competition. The three regional contests and state contest comprise the largest German contest system in the United States.
The following students qualified for state:
•Lillyanna Bettschen, first place skit 2;
•William Bettschen, first place duet acting, first place skit 2, third place shirt design, fifth place sight reading 2;
•Jocelyn Bidwell, first place club album, first place folk dance, first place upper puppets, second place Einzeltanz, second place duet acting, fifth place prose reading 3;
•Kai Brown, second place shirt design;
•Jonathan Brown, first place folk dance;
•Abigail Clifford, first place folk dance;
•Traityn Clift, first place craft;
Chaz Shoaff, first place folk dance, first place upper puppets, second place Einzeltanz, second place duet acting;
•Julie Snelson, first place craft;
•Cayden Wallin, first place lower puppets.
Greidys Contreras, first place duet acting, first place skit 2, third place shirt design;
•Abigayle Dodd, first place craft;
•Zoey Flores, first place folk dance, second place original model, second place vocal solo, fifth place contemporary music;
•Shelby Gee, first place folk dance;
•Allie Griffin, first place craft;
•Katelyn Hamel, first place folk dancing, first place poetry reading 4, first place spelling 4, first place reading comprehension 4, second place vocabulary 4, third place sight reading 2;
•Brayden Hendrix, first place folk dance, first place Einzeltanz, first place upper puppets, first place gingerbread non-traditional, second place photography,
•Gabriel Hinojosa, first place folk dance, first place upper puppets;
•Sean Hull, second place poetry memory 2, fourth place sight reading 2, fifth place prose reading 2;
•Elizabeth Humphrey, first place needlework;
•Dayshawn Jones, first place upper puppets, fifth place sight reading;
•Quinlan McCarty, first place lower puppets;
•Jude Meazell, first place folk dance, first place upper puppets, first place poetry memory 4, second place spelling 3, third place poetry reading 4, third place sight reading 3, fifth place poster;
•Jerry Miller, first place lower puppets, second place grammar 2, second place sight reading 2, third place vocabulary 2;
•Aaliyah Mizar, third place doll costume;
•Cayleigh Morgan, third place doll costume;
•Quinlan Olthoff, first place lower puppets;
•Tyson Palmer, first place folk dance, first place lower puppets, third place poetry memory 2;
•Jacob Reeves, third place craft;
•Raley Seale, first place folk dance, first place Einzeltanz, second place craft, fifth place poetry reading 2;
•Chaz Shoaff, first place folk dance, first place upper puppets, second place Einzeltanz, second place duet acting;
•Julie Snelson, first place craft;
•Cayden Wallin, first place lower puppets.
The Lakelander 