Shaler Area students take top awards in Japanese speech contest
Shaler Area High School students took top awards in the 21st annual High School Japanese Speech Contest held at the University of Pittsburgh.
The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh’s Asian Studies Center hosts the Japanese Speech Contest at Pitt’s Oakland Campus each year for Japanese learners of all levels. This year, 52 students from schools throughout western Pennsylvania participated in the competition that includes four speech levels and a poster contest.
In the Advanced and Advanced Plus level, two Shaler Area students tied for 1st place. Senior Kira Katich (Advanced Plus) and junior Kylie Dougherty (Advanced) both placed 1st in this combined category, and junior Marcus Katich placed 2nd (Advanced). Additionally, sophomore Evan Baldwin placed 3rd in the Intermediate level.
Students are required to memorize a speech on the chosen topic for the speech contest or make a trifold poster for poster session. The Shaler Area students who participated in the competition wrote and memorized a five-minute speech in Japanese about animals in Japan.
This year, the participating schools included Norwin High School, Pittsburgh Allderdice High School, Pittsburgh Obama Academy, Shaler Area High School, and Upper St. Clair High School.
Posted: Thursday, March 15, 2018