We’re excited to share some good news from the 2024 Wolfcub Invitational Debate Tournament! On April 20th, the Kudos Middle School debate team participated in this tournament held at Claremont High School. This event marked the last tournament of the 2023-2024 school year, and once again, the Kudos Middle School debate team achieved big success. Here are the winners:

We’re thrilled to share some exciting news from the 2024 SCJFL Elementary Speech and Debate Tournament – The Cantrell Invitational, held at Roosevelt Elementary on April 13th! Our elementary team gave it their all in the last tournament of the school year 2023-2024 and once again brought home numerous trophies. Here are our amazing achievers:



Congratulations to all our students for their outstanding performances! We’re incredibly proud of their hard work and dedication. A big thank you to our coaches, parents, and supporters. Let’s celebrate our students’ success together!

On March 1st, 2024, Kudos students, including those from the middle school Advanced Class and the Speech tournament team, participated in the SCJFL Spring Speech Tournament at Jefferson Middle School. More than two hundred students from twelve schools were on site, making it one of the biggest SCJFL tournaments. Many Kudos students successfully reached the final rounds, bringing home numerous trophies. Events and final placements are listed as follows.

Congratulations to all the Kudos students and the coaches — great job!

Stanford University’s 38th Annual Invitational Speech & Debate Tournament took place on Feb 10-11, 2024, Stanford University Tournament is one of the largest tournaments on the west coast attracting more than 300 schools. In the festive days of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dragon, the Kudos tournament team proudly brought home top honors and trophies, showcasing their success and skill in this highly competitive event.

The Winter Southern California Elementary Forensics Tournament was held at Roosevelt Elementary School on February 10th, 2024, the first day of the Lunar Year of the Dragon! Kudos competitors won Championship in Spar Debate, and numerous top places in Impromptu Speech:

The Kudos Middle School Debate Teams competed at their first online tournament of the year and walked away with some excellent results. Kudos had students in the top two of Student Congress, Lincoln Douglas and Public Forum. We are very pleased with the positive accolades the students brought home this tournament. Onto the awards!

Starting in Congress, Kudos 6 of the top 7 students in congressional debate, including 8 of the 13 finalists. We also had 10 of the top 15 as well as 14 of the top 20. Shoutouts to first year Carrie Rao and third year Annie Zhao for being the winner of their preliminary chambers. This is the 2nd tournament in a row that Carrie has won her preliminary chamber. Carrie and Sanju have been top two in their prelim and top four overall after prelims at all three tournaments this year. Annie and fellow returner John Dong accomplished the same feat at all three tournaments placing top five in their prelim and top nine overall. Ella Fan has also done this by being top four in her prelims and top eight overall heading into outrounds at all three tournaments. These five as well as Betty Chen, Zoey Luc, and Hayley Fung have broken at every tournament they’ve attendended. Kayli Tang also earned props for being top six in her chamber and top 12 overall after all three tournament prelims. 1st years Ashley Ma and Ardent Lin deserve praise for their first breaks ever! In particular, Ashley went from last place at her previous tournament to finaling at this competition. Overall, Carrie, Ella, Sanju, Annie and John, were not only five of the top six, but they earned 10 of the 12 available 1st places ranks that were given by judges throughout prelims and elims combined.

On the Lincoln Douglas side, returners Yuna Wu, Harry Chen, and William Lin all won top speaker awards as they were all in the top seven. Harry is on a roll as he has earned a speaker award at each tournament this year. First year Rebecca Ho also deserves congratulations for being top speaker in the tournament. Coach Pepper was not surprised as Rebecca was the first person done with her case, and the first person to have prepared cutting all of her cards. The Lincoln Douglas girls cleaned house this tournament with Yuna, Rebecca, and Grace Yang making up half of the breaks in LD. They were also three of the top four with Rebecca and Yuna taking 1st and 2nd.

Finally in Public Forum , congratulations to Jayden Huang and Derek Hu for taking 2nd place. They lost in finals to Katherine Duan who was tournament champion with her school partner. Katherine, Anson Cheang and Claire Xuan all deserve credit for earning speaker awards. Katherine. This is Katherine’s 2nd tournament championship and she’s now done so in Lincoln Douglas AND Public Forum

Go Kudos!

On December 9th, 2023, Kudos Coaches Alex and Thomas led the Kudos Elementary School Team to their inaugural in-person Speech and Debate Tournament of the 2023-24 academic year at Roosevelt Elementary. We are thrilled to report that this event, with 12 schools totaling 120 competitors participating, marked a wonderful first outing for our novice competitors, showcasing both their growth and dedication.

In the Impromptu Speech category, our students displayed commendable performances. Their achievements in Impromptu Speech reflect not only their individual talents but also the effective guidance provided by our dedicated coaches.

Their achievements in Impromptu Speech reflect not only their individual talents but also the effective guidance provided by our dedicated coaches. Additionally, in the SPAR Speech category, our students demonstrated resilience and skill, achieving notable standings:

Congratulations to all participants for their hard work and achievements. These results highlight the depth of talent within the Kudos Elementary School Team and the dedication of both students and coaches. Each participant has contributed to our collective pride, and we look forward to building on this success in future tournaments.