Each year, the German students of Manhattan High School and other schools around the state attend the Schulekongress conference in Lawrence on the Kansas University campus. The event is made up of poetry and prose readings, as well as scavenger hunts and traditional German cultural activities. The scavenger hunts even take place in the various museums on the KU campus.

Students prepare weeks in advance for this event. Not only do the students need to be prepared to present their poetry or prose fully in German, they also must make a video and a poster to represent the school’s involvement in the German language program.

“I recorded and edited the video and helped with the poster,” junior Grant Williams said. “Of course, I also did poetry and prose and got awards for both of those.”

At the end of the event, there is an awards ceremony for the students and teams that participated in the various activities.

It went really well,” junior Leah Selman said. “I got two medals, and my team got second place in the culture quiz.”

The MHS students came out in force at Schulekongress, with almost every student winning an award.

“I’m pretty sure everyone from MHS got an award,” Williams said. “It was awesome.”

Schulekongress overall has become a place not only for people to test out their knowledge of the German language, but also to form a community about it. Schulekongress has been taking places for years, and MHS will continue to attend.

“I will for sure be attending next year,” Williams said.