Monday, May 23, 2005

Episcopal junior John Bruner is one of 15 students who qualified to compete in the Second Annual USA National Japanese Language High School Speech Contest, which will be held on May 28 in Los Angeles.

John previously won the Louisiana Japanese Speech Contest, which was held this spring at Tulane University.
The national contest is hosted by the Aurora Foundation in association with the National Council of Japanese Language Teachers.

John will compete by reciting his 3 ½ minute speech in Japanese. Students must recite their speeches from memory.

Contestants will also be interviewed by judges following their speeches.

The Grand Prize winner will receive a $500 scholarship and a trip to the overseas students’ Japanese Speech Award contest, which will be held in Tokyo, Japan, in July. The second place winner will receive a $300 scholarship, and the third place winner will receive a $200 scholarship. All participants will receive a commendation.

The Aurora Foundation provides for the contestants’ expenses while in Los Angeles. The students will home-stay with Japanese host families in the Los Angeles area for two nights.