Thirty-two students attended the Riverside STEM Middle School Classic this past weekend. Eight Kudos students participated and five won awards.

Grace Jin and Ava Ye finished in first place and Rachel Bai and Alex Fu finished in second place. Grace was the tournament’s top speaker and Catherine Yang was the tournament’s third speaker.

Catherine Yang won 3rd speaker award

Grace Jin won top speaker award

Grace Jin with her partner Ava Ye

Rachel and Alex

Grace Jin Public Forum w/ Ava 1st place
Ava Ye Public Forum w/ Grace 1st place
Rachel Bai Public Forum w/ Alex 2nd place
Alex Fu Public Forum w/ Rachel 2nd place
Grace Jin Public Forum 1st Speaker
Catherine Yang Public Forum 3rd Speaker

One-hundred, fifty-three students from twenty-nine schools and four states attended the Chuck Ballingall Memorial Invitational at Damien High School this past weekend. Five Kudos middle school students were among them and four won awards.

In novice policy debate, the team of York Tang and Aaron Lee reached the semifinal round (top 4). Aaron was third speaker and York was sixth place speaker.

In varsity Lincoln-Douglas debate, Aaron Zhang reached the quarterfinal round (top 8) despite competing against high school students with two or more years of experience. Aaron was also named fifth speaker.

In novice Lincoln-Douglas debate, Christina Feng reached the quarterfinal round (top 8) and was the tournament’s ninth speaker.

Aaron Lee Novice CX w/ York Semis – Top 4
York Tang Novice CX w/ Aaron Semis – Top 4
Aaron Lee Novice CX 3rd Speaker
York Tang Novice CX 6th Speaker
Aaron Zhang Varsity LD Quarters – Top 8
Aaron Zhang Varsity LD 5th Speaker
Christina Feng Novice LD Quarters – Top 8
Christina Feng Novice LD 9th Speaker

York Tang

Christina Feng

Aaron Lee

The first Southern California Junior Forensics League Debate Tournament of the school year was held on October 21st, 2017, at La Salle High School in Pasadena.

Kudos students won Championships in three of the four debate events and received the Top Speaker Award in all of these four debate categories.

(Setting up registration booth for schools and contestants)

(Shiny trophies waiting to be taken home by winners)

In Public Forum debate, Abigail Fang and Grace Jin of Kudos Irvine campus finished in first place and Grace was the tournament’s Top Speaker. Abigail and Grace were the only team at the tournament to finish with a perfect 5-0 record.

(Grace received Top speaker award)

(Kudos Irvine was led by Mr. Yazel on the left)

In Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debate, Christina Feng was named one of five finalists by having a 4-1 record. Aaron Zhang won the Top Speaker trophy in LD.

(Big smile on Christina’s face)

(Aaron with his proud parents)

In Policy debate, Aaron Lee and York Tang went undefeated and Aaron was Top Speaker. Ethan Chang finished in Second Place.

In Congressional debate, Justin Hong was Champion, while Emmy Chen finished in Third Place. Selina Ho and Cassie Gao tied as the Fifth Place winners, and Justin Lim was placed 7th.

(Justin and Emmy were delighted with the results )

(Coach Mr. Ro and his students discussing strategies)

(Partial of Congress team)

Aaron Lee CX w/ York 1st
York Tang CX w/ Aaron 1st
Ethan Chang CX 2nd
Aaron Lee CX 1st speaker
Abigail Fang PF w/ Grace 1st
Grace Jin PF w/ Abigail 1st
Grace Jin PF 1st speaker
Christina Feng LD Finalist (top 5)
Aaron Zhang LD 1st speaker
Justin Hong Congress 1st
Emmy Chen Congress 3rd
Selina Ho Congress 5th
Cassie Kao Congress 5th
Justin Lim Congress 7th

(Irvine Coach Mr. Yazel)

(Kudos once again hosted another successful tournament)

共來自10所公私立學校，170位學生， 雖然人數眾多， 但 Kudos所派出的13位選手， 各個使出全力， 表現不俗，Kudos演講隊在全場強敵的環繞下，更有許多第一次參賽就進入決賽的佳績，抱回許多獎盃，表現十分亮眼!!

散文演說類， 兩位資深選手Lily Johnson與Cassie Kao分別以高積分進入總決賽，最後獲得總決賽選手前九名的佳獎。

(Lily 與父親開心的合照)

(把握時間繼續練習)

(凱西與親愛的媽媽合照)

而原創詩詞散文類，由第一次出賽的Celine Tsai獲得此項目的第四名，Celine以細膩的表達方式與勵志的創作內容，每一回合均打動許多評審的心，最後以高積分進入決賽，榮獲第四名，令其指導教練Mrs.Kalmus感到驕傲!

(Celine第一次參加原創類型比賽)

(教練Mrs.Kalmus替Celine感到開心)

在雙人演講的部分， Kathy Liu 與 Marisa Lee第一次搭配，老將Marisa搭配新手Kathy，比賽前多次課後練習，以培養十足默契與節奏感，果然前三場就積分出眾，順利進入決賽， 最後歡喜獲得第七名佳績。

(左為Marisa, 右為Kathy, 兩人默契十足, 表現維妙維肖)

(Mr.Seymour手下兩組優秀隊員都是第一次比”雙簧詮釋”這個項目, 難度十分高, 因為很少學生願意與教練配合花時間細細琢磨, 但這次不只兩隊都打入決賽, 最後更勇奪第四名獎盃)

(Ryan和父母親合照)

Ryan Sieh 與Lucas Lim兩位六年級的小夥子渾身喜感，一樣在前三場以高積分進入決賽，最後一路比到終場，獲得此項目的第四名，令家長與教練興奮不已，全隊 士氣高昂。

讓我們恭喜每位選手的勝利，一起分享他們的喜悅 ~

(Kudos 即席辯論隊成員群體合照)

(You girls ROCK !)

Over two-thousand students from one-hundred, twenty-four schools and eight states competed at the Jack Howe Memorial Tournament at Cal State Long Beach this past weekend.

Three Kudos middle school students were among them.

In junior varsity policy debate, the team of Ethan Chang and Aaron Lee reached the semifinal round (top 4).
Ethan was second speaker and Aaron was sixth place speaker.

In the varsity division of CHSSA Lincoln-Douglas debate, Aaron Zhang finished with a winning 4-2 record despite competing against high school students with two or more years of experience.

Aaron Lee Junior Varsity CX w/ Ethan Semis – Top 4
Ethan Chang Junior Varsity CX w/ Aaron Semis – Top 4
Aaron Lee Junior Varsity CX 6th Speaker
Ethan Chang Junior Varsity CX 2nd Speaker
Aaron Zhang Varsity LD (CHSSA division) 4-2 record

2017年中學演講辯論 – 全國冠軍賽 – 位於肯德基州立大學

2017年5月13日~5月14日，來自全美15州，33所學校共223位學生一起參與的全美中學的演講辯論冠軍賽，全名Tournament of Champions簡稱 TOC， 於肯德基州立大學舉辦。

肯德基大學自1971年開啟了這項舉辦全美總冠軍賽的傳統，每年一到五月，各路演辯好手與教練們必風塵僕僕自各州帶隊趕來，今年KUDOS共15位隊員參加，但有9位學生不只打入決賽，更霸氣地贏回獎盃與獎牌，學生參賽素質極優，獲獎率高達60% !!!

33所學校裡，只有極其少數，同時入圍總決賽兩個項目以上，而這樣的殊榮與佳績，歷史上只有兩所學校曾達到，KUDOS便是其中之一，今年不只延續傳統，更是教練對自己的期許。

在林肯辯論，Ethan Chang不負眾望一路晉級到準決賽，一舉拿下全美第二名!!! 更得到個人最佳演說獎第三名!!!
Aaron Lee 則是榮獲個人演說獎第十名。

政策辯論，Eric Gao 與 Matthew Zhang獲得全美第四名，Caleb Lee 與Andrew Sinsioco則是全美第八，隊友Benny Tong則獲得個人演說獎第十名 。 Eric 與Matthew 在總決賽面臨北加州最強宿敵Harker School，可說是雖敗猶榮。

公共論壇，William Chang在共118名選手當中，獲得第13名個人最佳積分。

演講選手Sharon Liu在即席時事新聞演說這個項目榮獲全國第六名!! 延續在南加州的演講天后美名。

Ethan Chang LD 2nd place
Ethan Chang LD 3rd speaker
Aaron Lee LD 10th speaker
Eric Gao CX w/ Matthew Semifinals (top 4)
Matthew Zhang CX w/ Eric Semifinals (top 4)
Caleb Lee CX w/ Andrew Quarterfinals (top 8)
Andrew Sinsioco CX w/ Caleb Quarterfinals (top 8)
Benny Tong CX 10th speaker
William Chang PF 13th speaker
Sharon Liu Extemp 6th place

最後一天返洛杉磯前有約6小時的待機時間，教練還帶學生們參觀遊覽了全美頗具知名度的Cincinnati州立動物園，歷經緊張的賽事後難得放鬆一下，孩子們臉上盡是笑容。這趟旅程 ，每位選手不只比得大呼過癮，更讓中學生活增添了一份美好的回憶，讓我們一起祝賀每位選手。

Three-hundred, seventy-four students from thirty-four schools attended the California Middle School State Championship this past weekend at Cal State Los Angeles.
A small contingent of Kudos students competed, and did very well.

In policy debate, the team of Eric Gao and Matthew Zhang were state champions. Caleb Lee and Andrew Sinsioco were runners-up, and Nikhil Navare and Benny Tong finished in third place.

In Lincoln-Douglas debate, Ethan Chang reached the semifinal round (top 4) and Aaron Lee finished with a winning record. Ethan finished his preliminary rounds with a perfect 5-0 record.

In public forum debate, Emma Chen and Nanette Zhang reached the quarterfinal round (top 8) and Lydia Fraser and William Chang finished with a winning record. Emma and Nanette finished their preliminary rounds with a perfect 5-0 record.

In impromptu speaking, Sharon Liu finished sixth in the state.

Good job guys!

Eric Gao Policy w/ Matthew Champions
Matthew Zhang Policy w/ Eric Champions
Caleb Lee Policy w/ Andrew 2nd Place
Andrew Sinsioco Policy w/ Caleb 2nd Place
Nikhil Navare Policy w/ Benny 3rd Place
Benny Tong Policy w/ Nikhil 3rd Place
Sharon Liu Impromptu 6th Place
Ethan Chang LD Semis – Top 4
Nanette Zhang PF w/ Emma Quarters – Top 8
Emma Chen PF w/ Nanette Quarters – Top 8