Students of the Japanese language from across Texas competed in the 27th Annual Texas State Japanese Language Competition on March 12, 2016.

Over 50 participants from eleven schools showcased their determination, devotion and tenacity as language learners.

While all contestants are winners in JASH's book, special recognition was given to those placing in the top three in each division.

Congratulations to the following students:
POETRY:
1st      Santiago HOFFMAN, Churchill High School, San Antonio
2nd    Elena MILLS, Johnson High School, San Antonio
3rd Khanh VU, Morton Ranch High School, Houston

HAIKU:
1st      Camilla CHEN, Cinco Ranch High School, Houston
2nd    Sadie WARD, McCallum High School, Austin
3rd    Andrea LOPEZ, Churchill High School, San Antonio

SKIT:
1st    “Unexpected Result,” Bellaire High School, Houston
– Harvey GAO, Anthony HOANG, Eunice VALENZUELA, Susan YU
2nd    “Ghost in School," L.V. Berkner High School, Dallas
    – Olivia ESH, Daniella LIM, Gillian POST
3rd “Restaurant Manners," Richardson High School, Dallas
– Jing LIU, Leila MILLER, Genny WHIDBY, Kitty YU

FREE SPEECH WITH TEXT:
1st     Justin NGUYEN, Richardson High School, Dallas
2nd Bernice TSAO, Bellaire High School, Houston
3rd    Cynthia CORSIGA, L.V. Berkner High School, Dallas

FREE SPEECH – AURORA:
1st     Heeyong HUH, Newman Smith High School, Dallas
2nd Amy NGUYEN, Richardson High School, Dallas
3rd    Fiona YEUNG, Bellaire High School, Houston

FREE SPEECH – COLLEGE / UNIVERSITY:
1st      Sean NIXON, Baylor University
2nd Jessica RAMIREZ, Texas A&M University
3rd    Melissa PEREZ, University of Texas at San Antonio

FREE SPEECH – OPEN:
1st      Kirti SHARMA
2nd Julia HOLZ
3rd    Suji HONG

Special prizes were also awarded those placing first in the POETRY RECITATION, HAIKU, FREE SPEECH WITH TEXT, AURORA, COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY, and OPEN Divisions.

POETRY RECITATION 1st Place Prize: Japanese Goods courtesy of the Consulate-General of Japan in Houston
HAIKU 1st Place Prize: Skosh Box subscription courtesy of TEXOMA JETAA
FREE SPEECH WITH TEXT 1st Place Prize: Buddha Board courtesy of JTAT
FREE SPEECH AURORA 1st Place Prize: $1000 scholarship courtesy of JAGH
FREE SPEECH UNIVERSITY 1st Place Price: $1500 scholarship courtesy of JASH Shintech-Kanagawa Fund
OPEN 1st Place Prize: Round-trip ticket from Houston to Japan courtesy of ANA

In addition, the AURORA Division 1st and 2nd place winners will be flown to LA to represent Texas in the AURORA All-USA High School Japanese Speech Contest.

**If you would like more information on the annual competition, please email pybrown@jas-hou.org.

SPECIAL THANKS TO THOSE WHO MADE THE CONTEST POSSIBLE:

Co-presenter

Consulate-General of Japan in Houston

2016 Texas State Japanese Language Speech Contest