December 2013

December was a very busy month.

First, our debaters attended the La Costa Canyon Invitational, where Victor Li achieved a Quarterfinalist award, and David Dosch accomplished Octafinalist, both in Lincoln-Douglas debate.  David also earned the top speaker award in this event, and was the top seed going into out rounds.

Next was the 35th annual Los Angeles County Mock Trial Competition, held at the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Caty gets grilled by the defense attorney in this session of mock trial.

The competition featured over 300 students and 30 school teams, and was adjudicated by actual Superior Court judges.  We brought a smaller team than most schools, but that didn’t stop us.

Mr. Wheeler provides some last minute coaching.

Coach Scott Wheeler led the team to an impressive 3rd place finish, and five individual awards:

Jerry Wang - Outstanding Prosecution Attorney; Kirk Wu - Outstanding Prosecution Attorney; Jacqueline Shang - Outstanding Defense Witness; Jonathon Liu - Outstanding Prosecution Witness; and Caty Szeto - Outstanding Prosecution Witness.

From left to right: Julie Wang, Coach Joanne, Jacqueline Shang, Caty Szeto, Jerry Wang, Jonathon Liu, Coach Scott Wheeler, Justin Yeh, the judge, and Kirk Wu

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Later in the month, our elementary forensics competitors battled at the St. Rita’s Elementary Tournament, where we earned a total of 16 awards. In SPAR debate, Kudos students brought home 4 of the top 6 spots: Emily Zhang – 2nd place; Alvina Zhang – 3rd place; Anjee Feng – 4th place; and Miranda Chen – 6th place.

Pictured: Second from the right – Emily Zhang; third from the right – Alvina Zhang; fourth from the right – Anjee Feng; far left – Miranda Chen

Both of our Duo Interp teams trophied as well, with Eric Mao and Alyssa Huang earning 3rd place, and Jaclyn Yip and Brandon Szeto getting 5th.  

Pictured: Far left – Jaclyn Yip and Brandon Szeto; center – Eric Mao and Alyssa Huang

Jacob Chon, Allen Lin, and Evan Steinhoff all earned trophies in impromptu, winning 4th, 5th, and 6th place honors respectively.

Pictured from left to right: Evan Steinhoff, Allen Lin, and Jacob Chon

Art Xue, Courtney Chan, and Nanette Zhang took 3rd, 5th, and 6th places in Poetry.

Pictured: Courtney Chan (far left), Nanette Zhang (second from left), and Art Xue (fourth from left)

Lastly, Elaine Hong trophied in Storytelling, bringing home 6th place.

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The final tournament of December was the Harker Invitational, a middle school tournament held each year in San Jose that includes the best teams in the state.

Natalie and Sally show off their 1st place trophies in Policy Debate.

Competition was fierce, but, as usual, Kudos was up to the challenge, in both speech and debate events.  We earned 18 total awards, including winning the championship in 5 events, including Policy Debate, Public Forum Debate, Original Oratory, Prose, and Extemporaneous Speaking.  It was, needless to say, a very impressive showing, and a clear statement to our opposition that Kudos is the team to beat.

Audrey Lam, Stanley Yu, and Justin Chiang and Angela Chen celebrate championships.

A complete list of our Harker winners:

Jerry Wang – Prose – 1st place

Cicily Deng – Prose – 3rd place

Stanley Yu – Original Oratory – 1st place

Audrey Lam – Extemporaneous – 1st place

Joseph Kiang – Extemporaneous – 2nd place

Kirk Wu – Extemporaneous – 4th place

Melinda Wang – Impromptu – 4th place

Justin Chuang and Angela Chen – Public Forum Debate – 1st place

Natalie Wang and Gyuwon Kang – Policy Debate – 1st place

Jerry Wang and Kirk Wu – Policy Debate – Semifinalist

Joseph Kiang and Melinda Wang – Policy Debate – Semifinalist

Natalie Wang – Policy Debate – Top Speaker

Kirk Wu – Policy Debate – 3rd Speaker

Jerry Wang – Policy Debate – 4th Speaker

Joseph Kiang – Policy Debate – 7th Speaker

Audrey Lam – Lincoln-Douglas Debate – Quarterfinalist

Stanley Yu – Lincoln-Douglas Debate – Octafinalist

Audrey Lam – Lincoln-Douglas Debate – 10th Speaker

Kirk and Jerry are seen here with awards won in Policy Debate and Prose.