Third Annual German Day
"Deutsch ohne Grenzen"
March 6, 2003
9:30am - 2:00pm
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Campus

24 October 2002


Dear North Carolina German colleagues:

The school year is well underway and the North Carolina chapter of AATG is excited to invite you and your students to the third annual German Day to be held on the campus of the University of North Carolina in Greensboro on March 6, 2003 from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm.

Let me remind those of you who were not part of the event last year that German Day is an exciting opportunity for teachers and students to showcase their achievements of the current academic year. Students have the opportunity to utilize their language skills in a variety of fun activities and contests at various language levels. Activities include a spelling bee for students in German I and II; a verb bee for advanced students, a poetry/declamation contest, a song contest; a skits contest, a poster contest, and a T-shirt logo contest. The day will culminate with the "Einstein Bowle," a playful way for your students to show off their knowledge of German trivia. All contests will carry prizes for the best performance.

Each school may participate in all eight activities. Yet, owing to time constraints, we must limit the number of participants in the various activities. Teachers are invited to select two students per class for the spelling bees, and the verb bee, and one team per class for the song contest. Select one poster and one t-shirt design per class for submission. The poetry contest specifies two students per school per category, and the skit contest can accommodate two skits per school. The "Einstein Bowle" can accommodate two teams per school. Please specify on your application form your students’ activity of choice in case we need to limit student participation due to time constraints or activity overlap. You are again invited to bring all of your students to campus to help cheer on their classmates.

The rules and regulations of the various contests may be found on the new NC/AATG website at http://www.nc.aatg.org. If you have problems downloading the documents, please contact me and I’d be happy to send you a copy by post. When visiting the NC/AATG website, please consider joining the NC/AATG listserv ncaatg-l. This exciting new feature on our website provides opportunities for NC teachers of German to communicate with each other, to share information and tips regarding German in our state, and remain updated on new developments in German.

The motto of the 3rd annual German Day is “Deutsch ohne Grenzen,” and we invite you and your students to play with the concept of borders in your design of posters and t-shirts. Please note the changed format of the skit contest. We now require student teams to incorporate the motto into their skits. All skits will be entitled “An der Grenze” (may be used literarily or figuratively).

Each participating teacher is asked to contribute 25 questions to the "Einstein Bowle." Categories are History, Culture, Famous People, Geography, and "Wildcard." Please send your questions to Kevin Yee, Department of Germanic Languages and Literature, Old Chemistry 111B, Box 90256, Durham NC 27708 or electronically (kyee@duke.edu) who will edit out repeat questions, and organize/collate the questions into categories and difficulty level. The deadline for submission is February 21, 2003.

Please note the early deadlines for submission for the T-shirt contest (February 7, 2003). The selection committee will review all entries and decide on a design at the NC/AATG spring meeting. Late submissions cannot be considered. Please send your submissions to Karin Baumgartner, 1203 Leclair Str., Chapel Hill, NC 27514, or bring it to the NC/AATG spring meeting (date tba). The winning logo will be available for preview on the NC/AATG website. T-shirts bearing the chosen logo will be for sale on German Day for $ 7.00 per person. Due to logistics, t-shirts must be pre-ordered by February 21, 2003 (mail, e-mail, or phone to: Karin Baumgartner, 1203 Leclair Str. Chapel Hill, NC 27514, 919-968-1277).

The registration deadline for German Day is February 21, 2003. Later registration may be accepted if space is available. At the time of registration, student registration fees are due ($ 2.00 per student). For your convenience, a registration form has been attached below. After your registration has been received, you will be sent a confirmation, a map of the UNCG campus with directions, parking instructions if needed, and a schedule of the various events.

German Day will take place in the newly renovated student union on the UNCG campus. Students may buy lunch in the beautiful new cafeteria, or bring a bag lunch and eat in one of the lounges or outside. Teachers are invited to join the faculty of the German Department at UNCG for a faculty luncheon. The lunch will be informal and allow teachers to drop in and out as need arises. Every year we enjoy meeting all of you, and many of you enjoy meeting familiar and new colleagues.

Please feel free to contact the German Day coordinator, Karin Baumgartner, at baumgartner@uncg.edu or 919-968-1277 for more information, or consult the NC/AATG website for updates (http://www.nc.aatg.org). We look forward to seeing all of you on March 6, 2003.

Sincerely,

Karin Baumgartner
Assistant Professor German
University of North Carolina at Greensboro