Hundreds of high school students compete at Modern Language Fair

            More than 1,200 high school students representing 40 schools from across Nebraska put their foreign language skills to the test when they participated in competitive events and other activities as part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Modern Language Fair.

            The 36th annual event, held April 12, offered students an opportunity to demonstrate their acquisition of foreign language and culture. The competitive events included acting out a scene from dramatic literature or an original skit in the target language, reciting poetry, performing a folk dance or relevant music and delivering a brief memorized explanation in English and the target language, and designing a colorful and informative poster on the theme of historical buildings. Students were allowed to compete in French, German, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Japanese and against students of similar skill levels. Faculty and graduate students from the UNL Department of Modern Languages and Literatures judged all events.

            Among all schools participating, Omaha South High School brought the most students, with 134. McPherson County High School traveled the farthest -- about 260 miles from Tryon to Lincoln. Besides competition, the day's educational events also included mini lessons in a variety of languages and instruction in international folk dancing.

            Summary results from Modern Language Fair 2012 follow. Students' names are included where available.

Folk Dancing

            Level I -- First Place: Columbus, "El Jarabe Tapatio," Elizabeth Braun, Emily Hawamann, Regan Jones, Alex Kurtenbach, Frey Tuth, Kelsy Neil, Erin Burrows; Honorable Mention: Columbus, "'Comoyo Merengue," Sam Bugay, Thomas Ernst, Hannah Foust, Sam Gotschall, Holly Harman, Morgan Jakoboski, Nick Linder, Sam Mancuso, Cody Myers, Myrissa Nosal, Preston Oberg, Hadle Oveichoc, Nicole Preston;

Level II -- First Place: Millard North, "Oye (Salsa)," Grace Solen Pfeifer, Matt Sunderman; Honorable Mention: Lincoln North Star, "Le Ballet Francais," Ann Murray.

Chinese competition

Drama

            Level II -- First Place: Lincoln North Star, "Beauty Pageant," Trish Huang, Jeanette Tran, Trudy Pham, Emily Knaub. 

Music

            Level I -- First Place: Omaha Central, "I'll Make a Man Out of You," Evan Pappan; Honorable Mention: North Star, "10 Thousand Years After," Desiree Lemke; Level II -- First Place: Lincoln North Star, "My Deskmate," Emily Knaub; Honorable Mention: O'Neill, "The Love Song of Kangding," Jeremy Lan.

Poetry

            Level I -- First Place: West Holt, "Yong Liu" Cameron Schumecker; Honorable Mention: Omaha South, "Hu Li Guan," Raina Thompson; Level II -- First Place: Lincoln High, "Feng Giao Ye Ho," Hana McMahon-Cole; Honorable Mention: Lincoln North Star, "Shui Diao Ge Tou," Trudy Pham.

Poster

            Level I -- First Place: Lincoln East, "Temple of Heaven," Savanna Falter, Ksenia Soulakova; Honorable Mention: O'Neill, "White Tower Temple," Franzelia Lazania, Karen Quintero, Jacob Bennetts; Level II -- First Place: Lincoln East, "The Forbidden City," Diane Le; Honorable Mention: Omaha Central, "Temple of Heaven," Justin Hatfield, James Domont.

French competition

Drama

            Level I -- First Place: Omaha Mercy, "Ratatouille," Olivia Greene, Shelby Guhl, Amber Johnson, Haley Kalskett, Riley Lang, Megan McAuliffe, MacKenzie Megel, Ashlyn Ocander, McKenzy Parsons, Nancy Peter, Alek Rehan, Kaylee Robins, Maddy Shehan, Emily Staley, Amanda Wiggins; Honorable Mention: Omaha Mercy, "Le Grinch," Leah Bifano, Kaitlin Brekel, Nallely Lima, Ashley Chowdhury, Dafnis Delgado, Cara Fangman, Anneliese Hennig, Isabella Lombardo, Michaela May, Alexis Mayer, Anna Montag, Nyawuor Paljor, Mary Ryck, Sara Sullivan, Gabby Sylvester, Sharon Tighe, Jamie Westlake; Level II -- First Place: Omaha Mercy, "La-haut," Claudia Brock, Kourtni Coleman, Clare Donlan, Annabelle Greger, Monica Keenan, Madilyn McKay, Ashley Robins, Becca Veys, Abbey Walker; Honorable Mention: Millard West, "Le Bensey Shong a Nice."

Music

            Level I -- First Place: Bellevue East, "Non, Non, Non," Christian Rush; Honorable Mention: Lincoln High, "Soulman"; Level II -- First Place: Lincoln High, "Dans le noir," Flora Zemploni, Ashely Epp; Honorable Mention: Omaha Mercy, "La Habanera (Carmen)," Rachel Andreasen, Tianna Bankhead, Abigail Culp, Rebecca Davis, Katee Donlan, Emily Dyer, Melanie Gutierrez, Ella Hart, Shailyn Holbert, Michaela Keenan, Keke Konou, Jessi Lange, Hailey McGargill, Erin Moore, Melissa Nigrin, Bridget O'Connell, Nicholle Ramsey, Anna Salerno, Alicia States, Michelle Tighe, Elise Weinbach, Emily Wermuth, Allison West, Claire Wolters.

Poetry

            Level I -- First Place: Lincoln North Star, "Il pleut," Megan Schafer; Honorable Mention: Omaha Central, "Mon reve families," Alec Williams; Level II -- First Place: Lincoln Southwest, "L'autonnie," Sarah Kocher; Honorable Mention: Lincoln Pius X, "Giplet de lo Sue de Feparolet," Bridget Fitzgerald.

Poster

            Level I -- First Place: Lincoln Northeast, "Arc de Triomphe," An Tran, Elizabeth Otto, Rousol Aribi; Honorable Mention: Lincoln North Star, "L'Opera Garnier," Dana Clark; Level II -- First Place: Millard West, "L'hamlet de la Reine," Lana Wong; Honorable Mention: Lincoln North Star, "Sunset Paris," Jazmin Turner.

German competition

Drama

            Level I -- First Place: Lincoln North Star, "Werbungen aus Deutschland!"; Honorable Mention: Lincoln High, "Oktoberfest: Der Anfang"; Level II -- First Place: Millard West, "Der Erlkonig"; Honorable Mention: Gretna, "Romeo du Idiot."

Music

            Level I -- First Place: Lincoln East, "Lorelei," Araya Wilson, Anna Koeneke; Level II -- First Place: Lincoln High, "Kuss sie doch," Tayce Hefner; Honorable Mention: Millard West, "Du bist wie eine Blume," Katie Fitzpatrick, Kristin Wells.

Poetry

            Level I -- First Place: Lincoln High, "Der Regentropfen," Stella Uiterwaal; Honorable Mention: Lincoln North Star, "Speilzeug," Kira Aldridge; Level II -- First Place: Lincoln North Star, "Der Handscchum," Victoria Kumpost; Honorable Mention: Crete, "'Liebesgedicht' und 'Du Gingst Fort,'" Emily Potter.

Poster

            Level I -- First Place: Lincoln North Star, "Allianz Arena," Joel Wienhold; Honorable Mention: Columbus, "Das Schloss, das hat viele Namen," Shelby Schroder; Level II -- First Place: Lincoln North Star, "Scholosser in Deutschland," Aivi Duong; Honorable Mention: Lincoln Southwest, "Burg Rhanstein," Turner Cox, Jeff Herplscheimer.

Japanese competition

Drama

            Level I -- First Place: Lincoln Southwest, "Omusibo Kororin," Elizabeth Velder, Vanessa Larsen, Jessica Larsen, Kate Schrotherger, Sam Fron, Trina Nelson, Troy Nelson, Saki Arra, Hope Anderson, Nicole Bernard, Ayaltinz, Emma Peters; Honorable Mention: Elkhorn, "Godzilla in the Office," Sallas Bolton, Jesse Elsen, Issac Kelley, Erik Niss; Level II -- First Place: Elkhorn, "Mono Uri Yasan," Joe Aulner, Maho Iino.

Music

            Level I -- First Place: Elkhorn South, "Alones," Mallorie Wright; Honorable Mention: Elkhorn South, "Kagami no naka no Tenshi," Jacob Mann; Level II -- First Place: Lincoln Southwest, "Day by Flow," Jacob Denniston, Colton Reeser, Lean Zhang, Tony Carnazzo; Honorable Mention: Lincoln Southwest, "Sakura Mankau," Tristan Hilderbrand, Courtney Catlett, Caitlin Wendel, Jordan Brooks, Kristen Kramer, Felicia Phares, Nicole Hamilton, Rebecca Humpress.

Poetry

            Level I -- First Place: Elkhorn South, "Ame," Hannah DeWald.

Russian competition

Drama

            Level I -- First Place: Papillion-La Vista, "Duel," Ryan Crosby, Zack Taylor.

Music

            Level I -- First Place: Papillion-La Vista, "Love Saves the World," Berkley Lyman; Honorable Mention: Papillion-La Vista, "Christmas Tree," Laura Tschida; Level II -- First Place: Papillion-La Vista, "Kalinka," Madeline Venable, Nicole Gish.

Poetry

            Level I -- First Place: Papillion-La Vista, "Skuchnaya," Nyajal Maluit; Level II -- First Place: Papillion-La Vista, "Selentium," Hannah Noker; Honorable Mention: Papillion-La Vista, "Selentium," Jackie Florick.

Spanish competition

Drama

            Level I -- First Place: Tri County, "Emergencias en la Clase de Geografia"; Honorable Mention: Crete, "Mexico Tiene Talento"; Level II -- First Place: Millard West, "El Decimo," Yan Zhang, Megan Burke, Rachel Sosnowchik, Melissa Lingerfelt, Marissa Siedleki, Andrew O'Connell, Clara Kinnison, Angela Yee, Trevor Andersen, Drew Johnston, Spencer Pereira; Honorable Mention: Columbus, "El Delantal Blanco," Jenny Lopez, Karina Vega, Lorena Chavez, Victor Legorreta.

Music

            Level I -- First Place: Columbus, "A la nanita nana," Tayler Bauer, Taylor Brunken, Elizabeth Hadwiger; Honorable Mention: Palmyra, "Como la Flor," Jessie Poskochil; Level II -- First Place: Lincoln High, "La llave de mi corazon," Bree Drda, Marina Blum; Honorable Mention: Lincoln Pius X, "A la nanita nana," Becca Wright, Brianna Dostal, Morgan Bldeaux; Native Speaker First Place: Omaha South, "Tu, solo tu," Maria Lorena Munoz; Honorable Mention: Omaha South, "Cucuracuca Paloma," Alejandra Mayorga.

Poetry

            Level I -- First Place: Columbus, "Mocha Oscura del alma," Abigail Bastian; Honorable Mention: Crete, "Lluvia," Charlene Skillet; Level II -- First Place: Lincoln North Star, "El llanto Fracasado," Tanner Pfeiffer; Honorable Mention: Millard North, "Pan," Jackson Gzehoviak; Native Speaker First Place: Columbus, "A Una Estrella," Raquel Corral; Honorable Mention: Omaha South, "Tiempo sin tiempo," Alejandro Jacinto.

Poster

            Level I -- First Place: Friend, "La Casa de los Azulejos," Kristian Roth, Kendall Dickinson, Brandon Yoder, Mariah Grant; Honorable Mention: Norris, "Palacio Real de Madrid"; Level II -- First Place: Tri County, "El Alcazar de Segoria," Sierra Stege, Madison Kellerman; Honorable Mention: Lincoln Christian, "Sagrada familia," Mycah Wood, Rebecca Gromewold.

Writer: Jean Ortiz Jones, University Communications, 402-472-8320