Whiz Kid of the Week-Rohan Ray

Rohan Ray, Age 11.

Schools: 6th Grader at Discovery Charter School, San Jose and Young Genius Bay Area Speech and Debate Academy, Saratoga, 95070

Accomplishments:
*Undefeated in Experienced Lincoln Douglas Debate at Peter Burnett Middle School Tournament, May 2015;
*Semifinalist in Impromptu Speech at Peter Burnett Middle School Tournament, May 2015;
* 5th place in Impromptu Speech at Cesar Chavez Middle School Tournament, March 2015;
* 2 wins and 1 loss in Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Cesar Chavez Middle School Debate Tournament, March 2015;
* Finalist, 5th place in Impromptu Speech in Santa Clara University High School Invitational, Nov. 2015;
* Finalist of Moreland School District Speech Contest in 2012;
* Winner of Inter School Speech Championship; Ahmedabad, India, 2010;
* Award for High Honors at John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth for 3 consecutive years (2013, 2014 and 2015);
* Straight A student;
* 2nd Place winner of Math Matters 2013;
* Highest scorer of Mathcounts Middle School contest (School Level), Jan 2015.

Key to Awesomeness:

Rohan’s interest in speech and debate sparked ever since he was a little boy. In sixth grade, he truly began to shine shortly after he joined the Young Genius Speech and Debate Program. Through this program Rohan has become a vivid speaker and has also seen increasing levels in curiosity.

Rohan is a very intelligent boy, he completed geometry and is also moving on to Algebra 2 as a 6th grader. He has also finished both Earth and Physical Science middle school courses provided by the prestigious John Hopkins University; Center for Talented Youth.

“One major realization he had early on is that one cannot be good at everything rather every individual has their talents and strengths. In his early years Rohan tried different activities ranging from the violin to soccer. Later sometime in fifth grade, he made a conscious decision to focus on activities aligned with his talent and passion.” state Rohan’s parents. Since then he has been self-driven towards his passion for speech and debate. Having associated with Young Genius Academy, gave him the opportunity to learn from the best coaches in this field of speech and debate. Young Genius Speech Program Director, Taisia Dubinina says, ”Rohan’s immense curiosity and unwavering work ethic is what made him so successful in one of the most competitive activities in California.”

In his early days he was a boy who liked to tinker, play and investigate things he didn’t know about. This is one of the traits that have brought him up to the position he is in now.