Testimonials

Dear Laura,

Melinda is now a first-year student at Yale university.

She had a great success in college application last year, was admitted to 11 of 12 schools she applied to. I believe her experience doing policy debate at Kudos was very helpful. It got her passionate about policies and social issues that she later did many projects in high school. Also, the training prepares her to be a good writer and speaker.
Melinda hasn’t quite decided on a major yet, but will be in the area of sociology, political sciences, or government. Yes, it was definitely worthwhile to drive her to Temple city.
I am a hands-off parent, but I did do the right thing taking her to Kudos to learn debate. So, thank you.

Bing, Melinda Wang’s mother

In 2013 Melinda (right) at the airport, en-route to compete at the Nationals, representing Kudos.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

“After two years in the Kudos Communication Pro I and II classes, Sharon joined the Kudos Speech Tournament Team. She persisted in perfecting the art of Impromptu Speech, won numerous Championship in California tournaments, and broke into the Finals at National Tour of Champions in June 2017 held in Kentucky. She was placed 6th in the nation.” ~~

I only have fond memories of Kudos and the experience I had while in their nurturing care. They helped me to not only grow in speech but also helped me grow as a person as well. I learned a lot of things during my time and those will stay with me all throughout my life. In the real world, your opinions will often times not matter but, once you enter that stage or speaking room, you have under ten minutes where everyone’s eyes and ears are on you. And, in those precious moments you have the ability inform your audience and possibly give them the chance to walk out with a new perspective.

Being in tournaments also taught me how to receive critiques better. You learn to not take it on a personal level, but on a professional level where you can use it to improve. It’s important to take this skill and apply it to all the aspects of your life. Being able to learn from where you fall short is essential and, being able to grow from there is amazing.

It takes a while to start breaking into final rounds and to anyone who feels like they’re never going to place; just hang in there. How well you do at a tournament does not define you as a speaker. How you learn from your experiences and whether you pick yourself up and keep moving, is what determines it. Often times tournaments can seem unfair and you can start thinking to yourself “how could he/she place but I didn’t?” or “what’s wrong my speech?”. Things can seem so unfair at this point and I can sympathize with anyone who feels like this at times. After a few years of thinking, I can say things happen for a reason. Sometimes it’s unfair and sometimes it seems legit. It doesn’t matter though, because although winning feels good, that’s not the big picture. If you got first place but you didn’t impact someone, you haven’t won all the way through. If you didn’t place that day but your speech made someone think “wow I’ve never thought about that before”, you’re a winner no matter what the world will say. Kudos taught me that it’s not about that gold on the trophy, but it’s about the gold in your heart and words.

All the coaches have helped me so much and I can’t thank them enough. Mr. Rothschild gave me my foundation and taught me to persevere against the rigors speech would bring. Mr. Wheeler, though we only met for a short time, taught me the discipline I must have while competing. Ms. K was always there for every tournament where she supported me like a second mother. On my first tournament, I still remember being so nervous and she kindly offered to watch my round to support me. Chris teacher (Christopher Hacela), the coach that I spent the most time with, taught me how to use words to empower not only the audience but also, myself as well. Like Ms. K, he was there every tournament and made such an extra effort to watch my rounds. He believed in me and that helped me to start believing in myself. Mrs. Laura has never been anything except caring and helpful, as she always encouraged me to do what was my best, and not someone else’s best. Finally, I also need to thank Ms. Ann as she always worked so hard in the background to make things possible for the overall team.

Though it may sound like I’m overacting, Kudos was one of the most life changing things that has ever happened to me. And like Mrs. Laura once told me,” You have to try it out first to know”.

Sharon, 2017 Dec. 15

First time Sharon won Impromptu Championship in Cal State Fullerton back in 2016, with coach Mr. Hacela.

Sharon prepping between rounds in National Tour of Champions, 2017.

National Tour of Champions in June 2017 held in Kentucky. She was placed 6th in the nation.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Victor Qin was a member of Kudos Debate Team while he was in middle school during 2012-13. In the summer of 2017, he graduated from North Hollywood High School Highly Gifted Magnet School. During his time at North Hollywood, Victor was treasurer and then co-captain while learning from one of our coaches Mr. Evan Feldman. He was a state qualifier in both Lincoln Douglas Debate and as a Presiding Officer in Congress. Among more than five hundred and seventy graduates, he was one of four to deliver the valedictorian speech in the graduation ceremony. He is now a freshman at Harvard University.

Following words are from Victor’s mother, Helen ~

Thanks to Kudos! The training he received from Kudos really serves him well. Not only it helps him to become an active member in his school debate community, but also it helps him to survive well in his rigorous AP European and US history classes. He also made so many friends from Kudos.

His AP European/ US history teacher is famous for toughness. Victor is one of very few students who got an A in his class, which helps his class ranking tremendously. He ranks at the top of his class with another student.

He feels his debate training helps him excel at that teacher’s class, it on the other hand helps him to appreciate that teacher’s teaching. Some kids did not understand, but Victor thinks he learned a lot from that teacher.

Ironically he spent a lot of time on extracurricular activities and still slept 7 hours per night. He doesn’t play online game. Probably that saved his time.
Mother Helen Qin.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

One of our most brilliant alumni “Melinda Guo”‘s testimonial :
(She has been accepted by Stanford University, U. Penn, and Princeton U. and will attend college this fall, 2017.)

Melinda’s letter to Kudos Principal Laura Lin:

In the wake of reflecting on recent news about the future, I find myself reflecting on the past and feeling great gratitude for the formative experiences and people who have helped me up to this point.

Joining and sticking to Kudos has been, hands down, one of the best choices I have made.
For me, middle school was a two-year period of struggling to fit in, searching for identity, and navigating the world through a lens of low confidence — the typical prepubescent existential crises. My middle school community celebrated those who pulled off an aura of cool indifference, and I did not fit into this cookie-cutter image of “popularity”. The apathetic, homogenous environment of my school suffocated my creativity, expression, and exploration of identity.

In a way, Kudos was a form of escapism from my “reality” at the time. Public speaking was the outlet through which I felt comfortable with being different, was encouraged to step out of my comfort zone, and developed confidence to navigate the world.

Disclaimer: I am not a natural performer nor public speaker. I was mediocre, at best, at my first speech competition. I bought a pair of awkwardly-fitted slacks and monochromatic checkered button-up from Kohls the night before competition day. Inside the judging room, I remember feeling the adrenaline pulse through my veins, wiping my sweaty hands on my slacks as I anxiously awaited my turn, and forgetting my speech for the longest 5 seconds of my life. Just as in middle school, I felt uncomfortable and out of place. But this was different. It was the good kind of uncomfortable. Sitting in that chair, and watching the other competitors walk up to the stage, I was at awe with the confidence, self-assurance, and expressiveness with which a girl performed her prose piece. She was unabashed with being different and theatrical with facial expressions and hand gestures that would have been snickered at back in my school. But at that competition, her performance, her deviation from the cookie-cutter mold was embraced and awarded.

I remember walking away from that competition with empty hands, a feeling of awe with the eloquent and expressive, and the certainty that such qualities were only reserved for others.
A year later, I decided to give public speaking a second chance for reasons I do not recall but most likely because my mom signed me up again. From there on out, I was hooked. I competed in prose, original oratory, original advocacy, storytelling, declamation, humorous interpretation, etc at regional, state, and national competitions. I fell in love with connecting with people through my presence, speaking with my words, facial expressions, and gestures. I was surprised at my ability to articulate myself to other people. And with the confidence in my ability to speak came the confidence that I can do anything that I aspire.

However, my time at Kudos was not a solo journey. My competitive success and greater personal development was only possible with the support, mentorship, and guidance of the people at Kudos: Principal Laura, Tyson, Adrian Zaw, Andrew Rothschild, and Scott Wheeler. These people are all integral figures who have emboldened me with the confidence, insight, and inspiration to be the best I can be. Thank you, Laura and Tyson, for building an organization that gave 12-year old Melinda — who felt so small at school — a platform to compete and place nationally in speech.

Thank you, Adrian, for bringing out the weirdest parts of me and pushing me farther beyond my comfort zone than I could ever imagine. At a point in my life where I did not feel comfortable being myself, I could be whoever I wanted through prose, popping into different characters through humorous interpretation, and becoming the beauty or the beast in my first Storytelling competition.

Andrew and Scott — I have had few experiences as self-actualizing as performing my original speeches through Original Oratory and Advocacy. School was a place where I learned pre-existing ideas through rote memorization. It was passive and dictated to me. But through original oratory and advocacy, I developed my own ideas.

Speaking on education reform, stereotypes, and appreciating the smaller things in life sparked my intellectual development and activated my capacity for independent thought. More than I realize, writing and performing speeches on those three issues have shaped many of my core values to this day. It is only through the mature and developed insight, mentorship, and guidance of Andrew and Scott that I could effectively convey my thoughts.

I am blessed to say that Kudos, its people, and my experiences from it emboldened me with a passion for youth advocacy, personal confidence, and the ambition to bring my words to fruition.

I am immensely grateful for all that Kudos has offered me. It has been a fundamental stepping stone in my personal development and profoundly shaped my character today.

Thank you, and I wish Kudos the best of luck in its future endeavors.

Warm regards,
Melinda Guo
(Melinda took first Kudos class in 2010 when in 6th grade. She has been accepted by Stanford University, U. Penn, and Princeton U. and will attend college this fall, 2017.) (In 2020 Melinda volunteered to help out the next generation of Kudos speakers at the 2020 Stanford Invitational, helping two middle school students break at the high school level)

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Congratulations to Kudos debate team member, 7th-grade Aaron Zhang, on being elected to a leadership position at Heritage Oak Private School in Yorba Linda.

In the last week of April, 2017, Aaron won an impressive victory in the school-wide election to become the President of the Association of Student Government. Among a student body of more than five hundred students, and in the fierce competition among half a dozen candidates, Aaron prevailed!

Aaron joined Kudos when he was a 3rd-grade student, in January of 2013, then going through Communication Pro classes level I and II before joining the renown Kudos debate team to compete in Public Forum debate in his 6th grade year, and Lincoln-Douglas debate in the 7th. He won numerous trophies and recognitions; the latest one being the Second Place winner in LD debate at the Early Spring Tournament held by the Southern California Speech and Debate Association.

Aaron’s father, highly reputed attorney Michael Zhang, said, “Aaron’s debate skills certainly helped his campaign!”

…………………………………………………………………………………………

“Kirk Wu”, one of our proud alumni who wrote a testimonial for Kudos ~

I’ve attended Kudos Education from sixth to eighth grade, and I wouldn’t give up my experience at Kudos for anything else. The program has helped me both in the classroom, the college application process, and most importantly, in the real world.

Speech and debate teaches students how to critically think and persuasively advocate for their beliefs, and Kudos is one of the premier institutions (at least in the middle school level) to help its students with speech and debate.

Principal Laura hires some of the best coaches in the nation. For example, Scott Wheeler, one of the debate coaches, was named the best policy debate coach in the nation. I worked extensively with Mr. Wheeler during my time there, and he was patient, intelligent, and helpful.

I began my speech and debate career doing dramatic interpretation, and Mr. Wheeler was the one who saw my potential in debate and encouraged me to pursue debate. Since then, I’ve done speech and debate both in middle school and high school.

Even though the classes are a little bit on the expensive side, the skills that a child develops as a result are invaluable and will help them for the rest of his or her life.
(Kirk Wu will be attending college in the fall of 2017. He has been accepted by Columbia University and other top schools in the nation.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

This letter was sent by Stanley Yu’s father, Jimmy Yu, sharing the good news with us !!

Dear Kudos:

Look how fast time has flown !! This year Stanley will be graduating from Arcadia High school and words simply can’t express my gratefulness.

Big thanks to Kudos’s solid training, Stanley left Kudos with great confidence and impeccable writing skills that equipped him to step up to next chapter of his life – College !!!

How I’ve missed the times Stanley was in Kudos and competed for the Debate team, the bond I’ve established with him through loses and wins, from local tournaments to regionals, all the way up to National 4th place, this beautiful memory will be forever cherished in my heart. Thanks Kudos !!

Sincerely yours,
Jimmy Yu.
(Stanley is graduating from high school in June, 2017, and has been accepted by Columbia University and some other top universities. )

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Kudos’ alumni “Alex Zhao” shares his personal thoughts of learning in Kudos back in 2012 ~ 2013 -

I attended Kudos my seventh and eighth-grade years, participating in a variety of debate events.
From Kudos, I learned to research, argue, and speak effectively through rigorous competition and a great curriculum. The skills I got from debating have improved my writing, critical thinking, and general preparation for academic work.

Inspired by my experience in middle school debate, I have continued to compete in Lincoln-Douglas debate throughout high school, qualifying to the Tournament of Champions three times and winning several national Tournaments such as the Barkley Forum Invitational at Emory.

(Alex Zhao is graduating from high school in June, 2017, and has been accepted by University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and University of California at Berkeley.)

…………………………………………………………………………………………

“My daughter, Shyanne, started Kudos when she was in 7th grade.

Back then, she was shy, introverted and soft spoken.

After a year at Kudos, we could see a difference in her way of carrying herself during any chances for public speaking. We were quite surprised to see her speak with a distinctive tone of clarity and expressiveness.

Her composure was more poised, graceful and with a sense of self-assurance. ”We believe the training she received from her weekly speech and debate classes at Kudos gave her the confidence and the skills to articulate her speech and oral communication.

— Macy, mother of Shyanne. 9/21/16

Shyanne at the May 4th speech competition, 2015-2016.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Lydia is my youngest daughter, she’s very gentle mannered and always keeps her grades above average in school. Two years ago before summer, she asked me to take her to Kudos to get more information about classes, we went and got all the registration and class info, she then asked me firmly to sign her up.

Lydia took six full weeks of the summer school which obviously only wet her appetite for more. She asked me to continue enrolling her to longer classes, and eventually we extended to year-long program of fundamentals of Speech and Debate. Even though the tuition was not low, after attending class for a year, Lydia’s become so engaged and interested in class activities that she would share with me what she’d learnt in class. She puts efforts in class competition every time and really eager to know teacher’s comments afterwards and tried to improve on them. This is definitely not the same little girl in my house!!

After the year’s training, the teacher recommended Lydia to compete in Speech tournament, because of her solid performance in class and calm manner, but Lydia requested to switch her to Debate, it was very different from the teacher’s recommendation and I was moved by her positive initiation.

The first 3 months were really tough for Lydia after the training began in September of 2015, she felt overwhelmed and lost, always had to do more research after she finished school homework. But as time went by, with coaches’ instruction and scrimmages with teammates, she became more confident and finally found her way into debate. She was even selected to represent LA Kudos to scrimmage with Shanghai Kudos team last December. That was such a good news for her and she felt encouraged.

Now Lydia always says, “Mommy, I really enjoy doing Debate, it was so difficult in the beginning. To think that I almost gave it up, it gives me chills. But I know how to do it now!” It really pleases me!

This month, Lydia went to northern California and competed at UC Berkeley with Kudos Team, it was such a good training for her, she grasps any opportunity to compete and practice whenever she could. I really want to say “Thank you” to Kudos!!

Nancy Fraser
Lydia’s Mom. 2/18/2016

…………………………………………………………………………………………

“Kudos Education has given my kids the solid foundation and skills in public speaking that are vital to their future success. No longer do they dread oral presentations or school projects that require them to stand in front of the class. Rather, they now speak and present with confidence and poise.

The teachers at Kudos genuinely care about the students’ growth as speakers and debaters. The periodic progress reports and the year-end parent-teacher conferences are very helpful in informing the parents of their children’s progress, and also their areas of weaknesses and strengths.

My kids have especially enjoyed the summer day camp, which offers a good balance of academic subjects and “fun” enrichment classes in speech/debate, and even magic. They think that Kudos is the best summer camp that they have been to (and believe me, they have attended many different ones in the years past). They definitely will be coming back!”

Nathan and Audrey’s mom, Jenny
2016, Jan.

Critical Thinking class in the afternoon enchichment class.

Solving math problems…

…………………………………………………………………………………………

This Testimonial was written back in 2014 by Justin’s mom, Connie.

A parent from Walnut named Connie Zhou:

My son’s name is Justin Jiang, has been training in Lincoln Douglas debate at Kudos since last year.

For the past year, Justin’s been competing and has learnt tremendously from the experience.

With the coach’s instructions and high expectations, Justin gained so much confidence and knowledge, and due to the high standards set for him, Justin keep on pushing himself to be better and better.

We used to need to remind Justin what to do and what’s due, but since taking classes at Kudos, Justin’s sense of responsibility has increased with time, he would remind us where to take him to tournaments, when to make appointment to discuss topic analysis with the coach, and when the practice sessions were which he did not want to miss, etc., not to mention school homework, we didn’t worry about it anymore because we knew Justin would take care of them perfectly.

We can see Justin’s transformation; he’s become a young man who is confident, positive, has learned to face calmly the fluctuations of winning and losing in competition, has continually tried to strengthen his weaknesses, and take advantage of each opportunity to participate in tournaments.

All this we attribute to Kudos’ excellent training. We started taking classes when Justin was 6th grade in Communication Pro basic overview of speech and debate, he is currently in 7th and going to National Tournament with Kudos this year. Good luck Justin.

Connie 2014/4/15

September 2012, Justin first came in contact with speech and debate in an year-long Kudos Communication Pro class.

June 2014, Justin was a member of the Kudos debate team at the Nationals, receiving awards on stage.

January 2016, Justin represented Kudos and received Lincoln Douglas Debate awards at IVC tournament.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Dear fellow parents,

Thanks to the invitation from Kudos Principal Laura for giving me this opportunity to share with everyone the drastic transformation in my daughter, Anne Lu, through her learning at Kudos in merely one and a half years.

My daughter Anne was born in the States, but we moved back to Beijing when she was six months old, and we stayed there for seven years.
We came back to Los Angeles five years ago. I remember too well that at that time all she knew to say was, “How do you do?”!!

None of the after schools would accept her application, even San Marino ACI rejected us, with a pitiable score of 7 out of 100, in her entrance exam.

After hard work in three and a half years, Anne finally blended herself in and caught up; all middle schools and cram schools warmly welcomed her to join.

Even though she was not a straight-A student, watching cartoons and reading Barbie stories with her friends posed no problem. I was very thankful already.

Summer of 2014 is a time to remember!! One day, I read an ad on the newspaper about Kudos Education, a cradle for future leaders. My heart pounded so fast that I just had to call them. I signed Anne up and paid the tuition right away. That fall, Anne started her weekly two-hour training. Thanks to her teacher; although after first class Anne was quite clueless about what went on, she told me excitedly with sparkling eyes that she wanted to become a GREAT SPEAKER!!

I don’t know what method Kudos used to teach students, and Anne never had homework, but after the year-long class flew by, my daughter had become the top student in a class of fifteen, and got the teacher’s recommendation to participate in Speech and Debate team. With our encouragement, Anne started her training quite anxiously.

About three months ago, Anne had her first speech tournament experience at Jefferson Middle School. Of course for Anne, she finished off quickly and didn’t win anything. With her legs bitten so bad by mosquitos, I thought she would run quickly away once she was not advanced, but instead she told me she wanted to stay, because Ms. Laura (her lovable Kudos Principal) told her to stay and watch rounds, cheer for her team mates, gain experiences and so on, and she listened.

My daughter’s grown up so much in just three months on the team, she started to ask me about China’s leader Xi Jinping’s personal history, President Obama’s policy, and why she supported Hilary Clinton to be the first female president in the country. I realized she was not the same girl anymore; no longer talked about Hollywood gossips, watched Disney fairy tale movies, or read junior fictions.

In order to complete all the research topics her speech coach gave her, she spent time doing researches, getting to know world and economic news, checking USA history, environmental issues and unemployment rates, she even gave up her weekly dine out meal with me just to finish her assignment.

If Principal Laura allows me to continue, I would keep on writing non-stop. But no word can express my appreciation and thankfulness to Kudos! Kudos is not only the best place to train kids how to speak and debate, it’s also a hot bed for our future leaders to grow and bloom. We don’t care about winning or losing at the tournaments, but do care about each and all Kudos teachers who give themselves completely to better our kids, teaching and coaching with passion and sense of responsibility. Please keep on leading Anne to explore the sea of knowledge; thank you, Kudos.
Anne Lu’s mom Juin

Anne Lu (In the center, stayed until last minute of first tournament and cheered for her teammates)

…………………………………………………………………………………………

In the summer of 2012, when Ethan was going to the third grade, we came to Kudos Summer School, for a straight seven weeks.  Although we live in the East area, as long as there are classes helpful to Ethan, we will give it a try.  What Ethan loved were the afternoon classes, five different subjects in five weekday afternoons; speech, debate, drama, persuasive writing, and magic, closely related to the communication and rational reasoning theme.  

He looked forward to coming to the class every day.  The best thing was that he discovered this interesting subject of speech and debate.  He never knew whether he had talent or preference on this activity, but the summer school inspired his interest.  Up to the summer 2015, we have come to Kudos for three summers altogether.

February 2014, Ethan enrolled in Kudos basic survey class.  He learned multiple speech and debate events.  When he entered 5th grade, he was recommended into the Elementary Public Forum class, through which he participated in a few tournaments.

From a mother’s point of view, my observation is that he improved in various areas as a result of Kudos summer school; the first and more obvious one was what he learned each noon about Spelling Bee, which inducted him to participate in this activity in his school. As a 3rd grader, he defeated other 3rd to 5th graders to represent the Inland Empire area, advanced several levels and did not stop until right before the Nationals. I am very grateful for Kudos’ initiation and education in this area.

Furthermore, I feel that his story writing skills have much improved.  For this, special thanks to the summer school teachers, together with reading assignments for speech and debate class. Now, this year, Ethan’s becoming a 6th grader, going to be a member of Kudo’s Speech and Debate team and studies under Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Rothschild’s coaching.

I’m convinced that as long as children are learning in a wonderful educational environment, learning from a prestigious teacher with high moral standards, no matter it’s taking classes or prepping for competition, they will gain valuable experience from it. I will always support my child as long as he is improving from doing this activity.

Ethan Chang’s mom, Mimi
July 2015

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Henry was 5 when we moved to the states and soon he started taking Storytelling class at Kudos in 2nd grade, then continued to summer school in 3rd grade and started his speech and debate survey class from there.

In the beginning, Henry’s overall English wasn’t good compared to native born children, so we hired English tutors and engaged Henry in several extra-curricular activities, hoping he could catch up faster and build a good foundation for the future.

Henry wasn’t confident in his speech due language barrier of course, but as time went by, not only Henry tried very hard to learn and catch up, but his years at Kudos helped him tremendously. He knew how to overcome his fear and practice presentation skill weekly. Now he speaks with total confidence, and in school, often got nominated by teacher as class group leader to help other classmates.

Last year, Henry was nominated to give a year-end Christmas speech during morning assembly. He talked fluently and confidently, he used what he’d learnt at Kudos, nicely wishing everyone a good holiday season and so on. Not only the Principal was impressed, the whole school were clapping for Henry for a long while.

Next day, Henry’s teacher wrote me a letter and congratulated me about Henry’s growth, that made me so proud. And last spring, Henry competed in Elementary speech tournament for Kudos, beyond of our expectations he got the 4th place.

It would be a lie if I say that it wasn’t hard for us as parents in the past few years. On one hand, we wanted Henry to fulfill his full potential in the areas of his interest and passion, on the other we have to wait patiently for that moment to present itself and not rush it. It’s like sowing the seeds in a land without
asking for return; but when the timing is right, the harvest will be there, our children will grow like trees, strong and tall, if we give them the right amount of time and exposure to the nutrients and resources they need.

​​​​I would like to express my gratitude to Kudos’s Principal and teachers who taught Henry for the past years. They have always kept us informed about Henry’s progress, filling us in on what areas Henry needed to work on and spend more time practicing. Henry always shared his class activities with us, what subjects he enjoyed the most and so on, he would do this only about Kudos class which has been his favorite; and he would practice presentation loudly in his bedroom of what he learned that week or prior to a competition. Thank you Kudos!

———————————————————————————-

An Email received from Angela and Eric’s mom from Walnut Branch, who are currently attending “Storytelling” class.

Mrs.K is very funny but also have tons of experiences, the children find an interest of reading books, and they learn how to appreciate the story and be moved.

……………………………………………………………………………………..

Letter from Jacqueline Shang’s mother：”The kids are very lucky to have two Super Coaches, Ms. Nielsen and Mr. Wheeler. They dedicated a lot of time and looked for every opportunity to prepare the kids. Without their effort, the team wouldn’t be able to go this far. They had done a great job coaching the kids. They should be extremely proud of themselves. As a parent, I greatly appreciate what Kudos have done for the kids.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Kelly Liu’s mother Jane:

Kudos Education has trained our child to maximize competition success. Students can compete as part of the Kudos team, or for their school team.  My daughter, Kelly Liu is great example. Kelly is an eighth-grade student at Polytechnic.   She underwent training in the junior speech and debate survey class for one year at Kudos. 

She also represented Kudos in competition, and won prizes in the Mock Trial tournament and Southern California Junior Forensics League tournament.  Furthermore, she represented Polytechnic in the 2012 Rancho California Debate League Championship tournament, and Kelly won the championship. During the tournament, Kelly Liu and her teammates Tanya and Samantha competed against 17 other teams and were able to get in to the final after 4 rounds of playoffs. They defeated their opponents in front of 3 judges and all the people (students and parents) at the tournament.  Thank you, Kudos, for teaching my daughter.  I believe she benefits from Kudos Education.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Morven Sharp’s mother:

My son Morven was deeply involved in the Kudos competition program as a middle schooler.  He was very successful in the Southern California Junior Forensics League, winning multiple trophies, including several 1^st place finishes.  He once told me, “among all the classes you have chosen for me, Kudos speech and debate tournament training is the only class that I really like, and feel I’m learning something which I am really grateful for.    I made the debate team at Arcadia High School, and developed into an excellent debater.”  My son seldom expresses his appreciation in this way.  Kudos training has made a real and positive impact on his life.

……………………………………………………………………………………..

Sharon Chang’s mother:

My daughter Sharon developed an interest in speech debate after attending the mock trial course during the summer of 2010.   The program really helped her.  Sharon became more confident and more involved in classroom. She tried out for Diamond Bar High School and was selected for the mock trial team. Sharon discovered and developed a passion at Kudos Education and is enjoying the challenges and rewards of participating in high school debate.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Angel’s parents from Temple city District:

My seventh grade daughter, Angel, is currently attending Kudos’ public speaking training.  She began in September of this year.  Angel is ranked 52 for golfers under age of 18 nationwide and is in the top 5 in the state of California.  She has to travel across the nation for golf tournaments throughout the year and she has put her whole heart into golf.

My daughter has all the qualities of being a good athlete, but her poor speaking skills make her look a little bit stiff in front of cameras. This is why I made effort to squeeze time out of her schedule and send her to Kudos’ Communication Pro for Juniors course.

I can see her changes even though it has only been four weeks of classes: she’s becoming more logical in expressing her own opinion in meetings with her coach and academic adviser from school.  She’s showing more initiative in expressing her own thoughts, and she’s becoming increasingly relaxed while speaking.  Enrolling Angel in Kudos was really a good idea.  Thank you very much!

………………………………………………………………………………………..

Andy Eng’s mother, Maple:

We were very happy, while planning our son’s summer activities, to hear about Kudos’  Communication Pro summer camp, which included speech, debate, journalism, Chinese, and even magic!  My son expressed interest in the course and asked me to sign him up on the day of the open house.   I could tell the difference just a few weeks into the course. He always looked forward to attending, and shared with me everything that happened during the class each time I picked him up.  Photojournalism and newspaper introduced him to a whole new world.   He was highly interested in the magic performance and practiced all the time when he got home. His oral communication skills improved a lot too.   What impressed me the most; he learned how to express his love towards us in the Chinese language courses. He said to me: Mom, thank you for taking care of me, I love you.

Kudos’ Education is well organized.   The teachers are all responsible, hardworking and  highly passionate educators.  They update parents on the learning progress of the kids weekly, and give individualized comments.  What great teachers!  Kudos allows our children to learn in a pleasant learning environment, where they get the best education and guidance.   We are very glad and satisfied with the choice we made.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Mrs. Wang:

My son became much more confident in expressing his own opinions after attending Kudos. He had been a very shy boy, but he was able to host the campfire party while attending the campout event of his school.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Freshmen of Cornell University, Edward Lin’s mother:

Edward made great progress attending the Speech and Debate tournament class in Kudos Education.  He developed skills in public speaking, logical thinking, argumentation, and presentation.  He was accepted into an Ivy league school, Cornell University, and he’s a confident freshman right now.  Edward was extremely satisfied with his experience at Kudos Education.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Salinna’s mother:

I was surprised by the ambition my daughter developed at Kudos.  She became so passionate about the activity, and always asked for more training in order to perform better in speech and debate tournaments.  Kudos taught her not only speaking skills, but discipline and self-confidence as well.

………………………………………………………………………………………..