Alford, Patil place first in Japanese Speech Contest
Upper St. Clair High School students earned first-, second- and third-place finishes in two of the five categories of the 25th annual High School Japanese Speech Contest, sponsored by the Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania (JASP) and the University of Pittsburgh’s Asian Studies Center.
Sophomore Aarav Patil finished first in the Poster category and junior Eleanor Alford earned top honors in Intermediate Speech.
In addition to the first-place finishes, USC students claimed second and third place in both the Poster and Intermediate Speech categories.
In the Poster category, juniors Aaditya Markose and Connor Hyatt placed second and third, respectively.
In Intermediate Speech, senior Gabriel Tran earned second place and senior Roehl Benedicto finished third.
“I’m very proud of them all. They should be satisfied to have chosen to undertake this challenge,” said Japanese teacher Chie Ramsey. “Their efforts to participate will help them build these skills going forward. I think it is important to understand different languages and cultures. For me, all of them are winners.”
Other participating high schools included City Charter School, Taylor Allderdice and Shaler.