Japanese Speech Contest/Japan Academic Challenge
(March 7, 2015)
On March 7th, the Japanese Speech Contest for current Japanese language students at the secondary and university level and the Japan Academic Challenge (a Japan-related quiz competition) for teams of high school students were held at Kennesaw State University.
Co-organized by the Georgia Association of Teachers of Japanese, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Georgia (JCCG), the Japan-America Society of Georgia, and the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta, this year’s competition included approximately 90 high school and university level entries, including students from North and South Carolina. Participants were able to show off the results of their hard work from studying.
During the Closing Ceremony, former Japanese Speech Contest winner, Mr. Jerrmarco Rhodes spoke about his experience visiting Japan through his grand prize award. Consul General Sunaga then greeted the participants, stressing that the true goal of the Contest was not winning first prize, but instead he hoped that they continue to study Japanese, further their interest in Japan, and work hard with their Japanese studies. Afterwards, each winner (or winning team) was called to the front and awarded with prizes. The first place winner for the Japanese Speech Contest, Category II was presented with round-trip ticket to Japan by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Georgia.
Japanese Speech Contest
Japan Academic Challenge
The winners of this year's competition were as follows:
【Japan Academic Challenge】
Level I
- 1st - Hardaway High School (Lee Gilford, Jessica Anderson, Riccarlos Carter II)
- 2nd - Milton High School (Conner Kreitz, Robert Steward)
- 3rd - Columbus High School (Catherine Wyrosdick, Elisha Smith, Athena Meadows)
Level II
- 1st - Milton High School Team 1 (Kira O’Hare, Ben Hutkoff, Justin Chang)
- 2nd - Columbus High School Team 2 (Isabel Lin, Andrew P. Hutchins)
- 3rd - Columbus High School Team 1 (Zari S. Smith, Wiliam I. Murtey, Laura Moore)
Level III
- 1st - Riverwood International Charter School Team 2 (Chase Davis, Felipe Hernandez, Kenyatta Robinson)
- 2nd - Milton High School Team 1 (Kassie Cowels, Taylor Brooks)
- 3rd - Milton High School Team 2 (Nicolas Steinemann, Ahshaiyah Mitchell, Pamela Patterson)
Level IV
- 1st - Milton High School (Lauren Butters, Leah Kaminer, Nina Moorman)
- 2nd - Riverwood International Charter School (Imani Dennis, Aiya Kadi)
- 3rd - none
【Japanese Speech Contest】
Category I
- 1st - Anran Ye, The lives of 4 people 四人の人生(Emory University)
- 2nd - Dillon Evans, Self Introduction (Columbus High School)
- 3rd - Jessica Nash, My Experience in Japan! (Western Carolina University)
- Gambatta Award - David Anderson II, Kiwameru (Riverwood International Charter School)
Category II
- 1st - Jessica Tang, 日本酒 (Clemson University)
- 2nd - Tak Chi Wan, What I learned during my first semester at University大学一学期目で学んだこと (Emory University)
- 3rd - Mariah McMinn, KAKEHASHIかけはし (Clemson University)
- Gambatta Award - Galen Hughes, Omotenashiおもてなし (Georgia Institute of Technology