スピーチコンテスト

Japanese Language Schlarship Foundation Presented

2020 All-USA High School
Japanese Speech Contest

 

Officially Cancelled

The Board of the Aurora Foundation recently met to discuss this year’s All-U.S.A. High School Japanese Speech Contest. After much consideration, the Board has decided to cancel this year’s contest due to the current crisis involving coronavirus.

It was a difficult and sad decision to make, but in the end, the board could not justify moving forward with the speech contest for the following reasons:

  • Coronavirus is now officially declared as a pandemic by WHO.
  • President Trump has declared a national emergency.
  • The number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. is rapidly increasing with no foreseeable decline.
  • The host, University of California Irvine, says that the venue may not be available and we would not know the answer until late May.
  • Many local speech contests are being cancelled or postponed, with the number certain to increase quickly.

The Foundation Board has also considered the possibility of postponing the contest until September or later, but coordination with other events makes it impossible to host the contest at that time, leading the Board to cancel this year’s contest altogether.

This would have been our 17th All-U.S.A. High School Japanese Speech Contest, and we are extremely sad to cancel this event due to this totally unexpected emergency.
We are aware that many high school students all over the country have been diligently working to participate in this event, so this decision is truly a heartbreaking one.
However, the Aurora Foundation takes the current crisis, along with your health and safety, very seriously. We sincerely apologize and ask for your understanding.