33rd Annual Arizona Japanese Speech Contest

The 33rd Annual Arizona Japanese Speech Contest was held on Saturday, April 11th at Betty Fairfax High School.

 

38 students from across the state of Arizona penned original speeches around the topic of “Food” and performed them before a panel of esteemed judges.

 

The event was sponsored by generous donations from the Arizona Association of Teachers of Japanese, Betty Fairfax High School, Mesa Community College, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the Japan Business Association of Arizona, and the Japan Foundation.

 

The Arizona Association of Teachers of Japanese are very proud of our young language learners and look forward to the 34th contest to be held at Carl Hayden Community High School in April 2027.

 

Winner’s List

 

Category A - High School Division

1st  Taylor Watson (Highland High School)

2nd Natalie Bouley (Gilbert High School)

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Category A - College Division

1st  Yovela Sha (Arizona State University)

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Category B - High School Division

1st  Ivan Mendez Moreno (Betty Fairfax High School)

2nd  Juliana Angel Picart (Highland High School)

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Category B - College Division

1st  Adrian Moreno (Mesa Community College)

2nd  Maleah McDonald (Arizona State University)

3rd  Carlos Jasso (Mesa Community College)

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Category C

1st  Aislynn Carpenter (Mesa Community College)

2nd  Izabella Schalk (Arizona State University)

3rd  Rayna Shaik (Arizona State University)

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Category D

1st  Colin Roch (Arizona State University)

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Judge's Special Award

Lukas Domer (Arizona State University)

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Penmanship Award

Rayna Shaik (Arizona State University)

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Grand Prize

Aislynn Carpenter (Mesa Community College)

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