March 7, 2018

USC students earn top honors at Japanese contest

Three Upper St. Clair High School students placed first in the annual High School Japanese Speech Contest on March 2, 2018, at the University of Pittsburgh. Madelyn Lebedda, Katie Knizner and Anna Culhane earned top honors in levels 1, 2 and 3, respectively.

Also finishing in the top three for each level were Ethan Quinto, second place in level 3; Caroline Knizner, third place in level 1; and Maggie Bryant, third place in level 2.

More than 100 high school Japanese language learners of all levels from the tri-state area compete in the regional speech and poster competition. Students participate in one of four speech levels according to their level of instruction.

In addition to those who placed, the following Upper St. Clair students participated in the Japanese contest: Hunter Bench, John Chakos, Elijah Chapdelaine, Gianna Lavezoli and Busra Nakiboglu. Students were directed by Japanese language teachers Chie Ramsey and Junko Kapples.

For the speech competition, Beginner Level students were asked to prepare and deliver a self-introduction and Intermediate through Advanced Plus students were instructed to prepare a speech on the topic, “Animals in Japan.”

The competition is hosted by the Asian Studies Center, University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh and the Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania. For more information, visit www.japansocietypa.org/Speech-Contest.