USC students earn honors at Japanese speech contest
Several Upper St. Clair High School students earned honors in the High School Japanese Speech Contest on March 3, 2017, at the University of Pittsburgh.
In the poster category, sophomore Maggie Bryant won first place honors and senior Eddie Celesti finished second. Earning second place (Beginner Level) in the speech contest was junior Anna Culhane and earning third place honors (Beginner Level) was senior Grace Eden.
More than 100 high school Japanese language learners of all levels compete in the regional speech and poster competition. Students participate in one of four speech levels according to their level of instruction.
Other students representing Upper St. Clair High School were seniors Jade Callas and Clare Rainone; as well as juniors John Chakos, Gianna Lavezoli and Ethan Quinto. Students were accompanied by Japanese language teacher Sensei Junko Kapples.
For the speech competition, Beginner Level students were asked to prepare and deliver a self-introduction and Intermediate to Advanced Plus students were instructed to prepare a speech on the topic, “Imagine How Japanese Society will Change in the Next Ten Years.” The theme for the poster category was “The Most Fascinating Japanese Technologies.”
For more information, including a complete list of winners, visit
www.japansocietypa.org/Speech-Contest.
