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3 SCS students advance to NJSDA nationals
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- From left, Saipan Community School’s Esther Park, James Park, and Kate Ishida advanced to the nationals of National Junior Speech and Debate Association set later this year in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Contributed Photo)
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- Saipan Community School’s National Junior Speech and Debate Association team poses for a group photo. (Contributed Photo)
Three students from Saipan Community School will represent the CNMI in the 2016 nationals of the National Junior Speech and Debate Association.
Eighth graders Esther Park and Kate Ishida and seventh grader James Park will be part of the CNMI NJSDA Team that will compete in the nationals set later this year in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Esther Park won for storytelling, Ishida for original oratory, and James Park for poetry.
In all, 15 students from SCS qualified to the NJSDA regionals that took place from Feb. 24 to 27 at Hopwood Junior High School and Mt. Carmel School.
Aside from first place in storytelling, Esther Park also finished second in prose, while Ishida also was first place in humorous interpretation. She could only represent the CNMI in one category and she chose original oratory. James Park, meanwhile, also took third place in duo interpretation with partner Shaina Lee, also a seventh grader.
Maxine Rabago, also a seventh grader, finished runner-up to Ishida in original oratory. She also bagged fourth place in impromptu. Her classmate, Vinson Bacani, ranked 4th in humorous interpretation.
Also advancing to the final round in storytelling was eighth grader Yelee Cha, while Tina Zhen (prose), James Park (prose), and Bacani (poetry) made it to the semifinals.
SCS NJSDA team coach Ashley Sikayun congratulated the two Parks and Ishida for making it to the nationals of the competition. She also praised the 15-man SCS NJSDA Team for making great strides in the regionals.
“The SCS team has been preparing for this event all year, and their strong finish is a testament to the hard work and dedication they have put in to speech. I’m very happy for and proud of all of them!” she said.
Sikayun’s sister, O’Ronia, assisted her in the coaching chores and also judged in the regionals of NJSDA. (PR)
