The 34th Annual Japanese Speech Contest Held

The 34th Annual Japanese Speech Contest organized by the Consular Office of Japan was held on Saturday, April 22nd at the Wells Fargo Center Building in Portland.  The contest was successfully completed with the participation of 12 students from 9 schools.  Contestants gave excellent presentations in front of an audience of about 60 people, including Japanese language teachers and family members of the contestants.
 
This year there were three divisions. Division I is the reading aloud division and is for middle and high school students. Division II is the speech division for middle and high school students, and Division III is the speech division for students in middle and high school immersion programs or who are from homes where Japanese is spoken.  
 
The contest was supported by the Association of Teachers of Japanese in Oregon and Shokookai of Portland.
 
A list of the winner’s names and schools follows: 
 
Division I
1st Place: Zenith Shankar
      Beaverton High School
2nd Place: Augusta Gindling
      Cedarwood Waldorf School
 
Division II
1st Place: Libby Hull
      West Linn High School
2nd Place: Erika Aguilar
      Roosevelt High School
 
DivisionIII
1st Place: Rachel Zhou
      Southridge High School
2nd Place: Katherine Andrews
      Mountainside High School