Reported by: Karen Li
Posted by: Karen Li
On May 9th, 2026, we were given the opportunity to help support the 2026 DFW Youth English Speech Contest, co-hosted by Texas Dragons and CIE USA-DFW. AYLUS members acted in various support roles, such as helping with registration, timing, along with providing food for the volunteers. More information about the event can be found at the link below.
https://cie-dfw.org/event/2026-dfw-youth-english-speech-contest/
As registration helpers, members were able to aid in the organization of the over 70+ student competitors and their parents. In addition they were also able to provide guidance on where to go, helping minimize any traffic or confusion. As timers, they sat in on speeches and helped time competitors’ speeches and manage the time regulations set forth by the competition, allowing the competition and judging processes to run smoothly. Through these experiences, the timers were also able to listen in on the wonderful and thoughtful speeches given by the competitors, each with their own topic and experiences, from their favorite season all the way to various psychological tricks. I personally found the ones that I listened to very meaningful and insightful, reflective of the competition and its competitors. Lastly, AYLUS members Rachael Yang and Sarah Yang also helped to purchase some much needed food such as bananas and water. This, along with other food was available to all volunteers during the long runtime of the event that overlapped with lunch.
With so many people attending this competition, including both volunteers and competitors, members of AYLUS were able to truly support and feel connected to the DFW community. This is further exemplified from a quote by 2026 CIE/USA-DFW Chapter President, Dr. Liping Ma, originally in Chinese, translated to English, which states how, “The AYLUS student volunteers were fantastic—very responsible and polite. They even helped conduct interviews, leaving us with cherished memories of our event! ”. Dr. Liping Ma’s original Chinese message can be found below.
“AYLUS学生志愿者非常棒，很负责、有礼貌，还帮忙做采访，给我们活动留下了珍贵的回忆”.
In addition, as stated by Dr. Liping Ma, some members also helped in more spontaneous ways, such as with a promotional video. While helping set up the volunteer lunch station, Claire Liang, another AYLUS volunteer, and I were approached by Yixin Wei, the videographer of the event, and asked if we could help record some media for a video he was making. We, of course, eagerly agreed and helped film various film B-roll shots and pre-game interviews.
Through these interviews we were able to really connect with the children attending and gain a deeper understanding of their joy for the competition and of public speaking. We enjoyed the experience so much that after all the speeches had ended, we went out of our way to once again find Yixin Wei and offer to record some extra post game interviews, which he agreed to and really appreciated. The final video edited by Yixin Wei himself, can be seen on YouTube from the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2iPjeZivHI
This video serves as a wonderful representation of just how enjoyable and creative the whole competition was. Overall this process was really fulfilling and fun and allowed us to add our own personal touch and excitement to this already wonderful event.
Karen Li (Event leader): 8 hours
Rachael Yang: 8 hours + 05/08/2026 1 hour shopping for the event
Sarah Yang: 8 hours + 05/08/2026 1 hour shopping for the event
