Lincoln Douglas Debate
2010 Faculty
Aaron Timmons, LD Debate Director
Nearly ten years ago Mr. Timmons was named one of the Top Ten Debate Coaches of the Century. This shouldn't be shocking considering his students have won nearly every national tournament in the country including Emory, Stanford, and St. Marks. This would be quite an accomplishment for anyone but for Aaron in particular since in only the last three years his students have also won the MBA Round Robin (twice), the Tournament of Champions in Lincoln Douglas in 2005 (including the top seed and top speaker) followed by a Tournament of Champions winner in Policy debate in 2006 (the team did not drop a ballot at the tournament), The Glenbrooks, the Grapevine Fall Classic (three years running) placed third at Nationals (in both Lincoln Douglas and Policy), and the Greenhill Round Robin - twice . Aaron's accomplishments in debate are literally unparalleled. He has had champion debaters in both Lincoln-Douglas and Policy Debate one of the few debate coaches in history to cross this great divide. His most notable accomplishment in his debate career was last year at the National Tournament when Mr. Timmons was inducted into the National Coaches Hall of Fame.
Mr. Timmons real talent isn't even in coaching, it is teaching. Timmons volunteers his time to teach debate to inner-city youths in addition to his full time teaching load at Greenhill School in Addison, TX. Mr. Timmons is a truly inspirational speaker and lecturer. In his over twenty years of education he has created a dynasty of debate competition and a pursuit of excellence in each student he comes in contact with. He has taught hundreds, even thousands, of students at debate camps across the country for nearly two decades. Two years ago, Mr. Timmons signed on to lead Mean Green Workshops at the University of North Texas. "A workshop not a camp," he stresses, "because here we work." He prides himself on creating an institute where students are both safe and educated. He is one of the few debate coaches of his tenure that remains active in the community. He serves, as President of the Texas Forensic Association, is a Board member of the National Debate Coaches Association and the Lincoln Douglas Education Project. He can be routinely found judging rounds and giving valuable critiques to other students at debate tournaments. It is worth mentioning that at a time when policy arguments are making in-roads into LD, few are more capable of demystifying those arguments and explaining how to run and/or beat them than Mr. Timmons. In world in which debate camps are more prevalent than ever before Mr. Timmons ensures a valuable student experience that literally no other camp can offer. This year Mr. Timmons has committed to being a full time lab leader and will be accessible for all students.
Lab Instructors
Jonathan Alston
Jonathan is a high school English teacher and the Lincoln-Douglas debate coach for Newark Science High School in New Jersey. He graduated from Yale University. He has coached five N.J. State Champions and has had debaters make it to late elimination rounds at Stanford, Emory, Greenhill, Wake Forest, Harvard, and the Tournament of Champions, among others, in his ten years as a coach. Jonathan is a gifted lecturer and teacher, consistently getting the highest evaluations from his lab students year after year. In addition, Jonathan has been highly requested by coaches to work with their students to get them to maximize their potential. His attention to detail, diversity of teaching methods and the ability to instill both confidence and improved skills into transitioning younger students is second to none.
Stephen Babb
Stephen received his B.B.A. at Baylor University in Human Resource Management with Minors in Philosophy & Political Science. Babb now teaches debate, journalism, and social science at the Archer Schools for Girls in Los Angeles. As current director of speech and debate and in past stints with Brentwood, Highland Park (Dallas), and Westlake, his students have cleared to elimination rounds at St. Mark's, Greenhill, the Glenbrooks, Apple Valley, Stanford, Berkeley, Blake, Grapevine, Colleyville Heritage, and NFL Nationals. As a competitor at the Texas Military Institute in San Antonio from 1997 to 2001, he qualified to and broke in LD at Nationals three times, first placing in the top thirty-two, then returning to place ninth and fourth. He also appeared in elimination rounds at the TFA State Tournament three years in a row and, as a senior, was crowned the Texas State Champion. Stephen competed in elimination rounds of Emory and Greenhill in both his sophomore and senior years. His successes earned him invitations to the University of Colorado Flatirons Round Robin (which he won), the Greenhill Round Robin, and the MBA Round Robin. Babb also has extensive experience with summer debate programs. He's taught at Stanford National Forensics Institute, the Bates Summer Debate Workshop, the University of Texas National Institute for Forensics, the Dallas Debate Institute, and the National Debate Forum in Boston, where he also directed the Repeaters Program. This summer will be his second working with the University of North Texas Mean Green Debate Workshop and his seventh at the Victory Briefs Institute in L.A.
Arti Bhatia
Arti Bhatia debated for four years at Colleyville Heritage High School on both the local and national circuits. Arti started her competitive national career her junior year and since has participated in the elimination rounds of nearly every tournament she attended (including Grapevine, Greenhill, Emory, St. Marks, Churchill, and the Glenbrooks) as well as qualified to the TOC twice. She twice advanced to the octafinal round of the TFA State tournament. Her junior and senior year, she participated in the Greenhill Round Robin. She was also invited to the Hockaday Round Robin for three years where she finished third her senior year and was top speaker of the TOC division twice. In addition to competitive success, she was recognized for her commitment, leadership, and service in the debate community as the recipient of the Naeglin Award. Arti attended the Mean Green Workshops for three summers as a student and is returning for her second year as an instructor.
Neil Conrad
Neil Conrad debated for the Texas Military Institute in San Antonio for four years. In limited appearances on the national circuit, he compiled an impressive record. He was the Greenhill Round Robin champion in 2003 and competed in late elimination rounds at St. Mark's, the Glenbrooks, Greenhill, and UT. He was also the top speaker at the TFA State Tournament, third speaker at TOC, and took third place at the Iowa Round Robin as a junior. In college, Neil has been a debate camp instructor for four summers. He coaches the top lab at the Victory Briefs Institute and the top lab at UNT's Mean Green Workshops. He is the assistant coach at the Greenhill School, where he has coached two TOC top seeds and four outround participants, including the 2005 champion and the 2007 runner-up. During the regular season, he has coached the champions of the Greenhill Round Robin (twice), the MBA Round Robin (twice), the Glenbrooks, the Grapevine Classic (three times), and the Isidore Newman Classic. He has also coached a St. Mark's runner-up, two Emory semi-finalists, and numerous elimination round participants at Apple Valley, Blake, Berkeley, and NDCA. Finally, he has coached the 2005 and 2007 TFA State champions - both of whom were also named top speaker. Neil graduated summa cum laude from Tulane University in 2008 with a B.A. in international relations, economics, and international development.
Claire Daviss
Claire debated for four years at Winston Churchill High School on local, state, and national circuits. Throughout the span of her career in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, she achieved notable success, including qualifying twice to NFL Nationals (following her sophomore and senior years), attending the Tournament of Champions as a junior and senior, and on the Texas circuit, qualifying three times to the TFA state tournament. In her senior year, she participated in outrounds at nearly every Tournament of Champions qualifying tournament she attended and earned high speaker awards at many more, including Greenhill, St. Marks, Grapevine, the University of Texas, and Colleyville-Heritage, where she was the champion. At the recent Texas Forensic Association State Meet, she won State Championships in Lincoln Douglas Debate and Extemporaneous Speaking. She attended UNT as a workshop student and is excited to return this year as an instructor.
Pat Donovan
Pat Donovan debated for four years at Glenbrook North High School, where he became Captain of the Lincoln-Douglas team. He qualified to the National Tournament of Champions as a junior and senior. He won speaker awards at and and debated in late elimination rounds of the Greenhill Fall Classic, the St. Mark's Heart of Texas Invitational, the Ohio Valley Invitational, the Blake School's John Edie Holiday Debate Tournament, Victory Briefs Tournament, the Barkley Forum at Emory, and the California Invitational at Berkeley. He also placed at the Greenhill and Montgomery Bell Academy round-robins. Additionally, Pat won the Illinois State Championship in 2009 and the National Debate Coaches Association Championship in 2008 and 2009.
Beena Koshy
While some refer to her as the "Paula Abdul of debate," Beena Koshy is truly one of the best teachers and most successful young coaches in the nation. While participating in high school at Apple Valley High School in Minnesota, she was a state champion in speech and a state finalist in debate. She traveled the circuit advancing to out rounds at such tournaments as St. Marks, Bronx, Glenbrooks, Valley and Emory, NFL, CFL and the TOC where she was tenth speaker. After attending college at the University of Minnesota where she became a chef whose culinary skills rival that of any of working in a 4 star restaurant, she returned to her roots of Forensics post college and moved to Sacred Heart High School in Kingston, Massachusetts and has since served as Director Of Debate and coach of speech. In 2006 her student was state champion in Massachusetts and runner up at the National Forensic League Texas Bluebonnet Nationals! So far this year, another student, has been invited to numerous Round Robins and recently went though an incredibly tough field to win the 2006 Glenbrooks invitational out of over 200 debaters from around the country.
Her attention to detail in giving each student in her lab the best possible experience results in a pedagogy that any coach should want their students to be a part of. Beena is a stickler for teaching fundamentals to students. While many student these days want to run "cool stuff", Beena is steadfast in her belief that sound argumentation which is well researched, well warranted and well structured, is a precondition for success. While others diminish the importance of public speaking and the relationship between good speaking and success, Beena instills in all students, the belief that good speaking is a skill that will win not only ballots, but one that serves you in life as well.
Her novice lab at the Mean Green Workshops the past two years have taken students with little or no experience and turned them into confident debaters and speakers in the two weeks she has worked with them. We are thrilled she will be returning this year to Denton.
Ben Lewis
Ben debated for four years at Walt Whitman High School. He was the champion of the Glenbrooks, MBA, the Bronx RR, and the Harvard RR. He was also finalist at NCFLs, Greenhill, the Greenhill RR, and VBT (twice). Finally, he was consistently one of the top speakers at tournaments, winning 1st speaker at VBT, the Bronx RR, the Greenhill RR, and the Harvard RR. Most importantly, he is the only person to win the Mean Green Camp Tournament twice. He looks forward to returning to camp as an instructor.
Todd Liipfert
Todd is currently a sophomore at Georgetown University in D.C. majoring in government and an assistant coach of Walt Whitman High School in Maryland. This year he has coached finalists at the Greenhill Round Robin, the Greenhill Classic, and the Victory Briefs Tournament and the champions of the Glenbrooks, MBA Round Robin, the Barkley Forum, and the Harvard Invitational and Round Robin. His teaching experience also includes two previous summers at Mean Green Workshops as well as the Victory Briefs Institute. Graduating from high school in 2008, Todd debated for Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School and was the 2008 National Champion. Additionally, he placed 5th at the Glenbrooks, 2nd at the Apple Valley Minneapple and was an octofinalist at TOC.
Michael Mangus
Michael Mangus debated on the national Lincoln-Douglas circuit for four years at Saint James School (Montgomery, AL). He qualified to the Tournament of Champions three times, reached the quarter-finals twice, and was the tournament's top seed in 2006. In his senior season Michael won the Glenbrooks and Apple Valley, reached finals at Greenhill, and closed out the AFEA Alabama State Championship. As a student at the University of Pittsburgh, he has enjoyed measured success in policy debate, from qualifying for the NDT as a freshman to reaching elimination rounds at CEDA as a senior. He has also served as an assistant coach and judge for numerous high schools nationwide. Michael will graduate with a BSIS degree from Pitt this spring and begin his pursuit of a PhD in Communication in the fall at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Jake Nebel
Jake Nebel graduated from Trinity Prep (Winter Park, FL) as one of the most successful Lincoln-Douglas debaters in history. He won the Greenhill Fall Classic (twice), the Glenbrooks (twice), the Harvard Invitational, the Barkley Forum for High Schools, the New York City Invitational (Richard B. Sodikow Award), the Bronx Round Robin, the Montgomery Bell Academy Round Robin, and the Archer Round Robin. He won both the novice and varsity Florida State Championships, and he thrice cleared at the TOC and at NFL Nationals. Jake was Top Speaker at the TOC (Walter Alan Ulrich Award), the Greenhill Fall Classic (Marc Wallenstein Award), the Yale Invitational (twice), the New York City Invitational (Peter Colavito Award, twice), the Bronx Round Robin (Jonathan Koppell Award, twice), the Harvard Invitational, the Vassar Round Robin, the Crestian Classic (Lee Myers Award), and the Florida State Championship. At the Harvard Invitational alone, he had four final round appearances. He ended his career in the final round of NFL Nationals.
Jake is an assistant coach at Greenhill School, where he has helped coach students to finals of the inaugural Harvard Round Robin and the St. Mark's Invitational. This summer will be his second at Mean Green Workshops. Jake will be a sophomore at Princeton University.
Ari Parker
Ari will graduate from the University of Illinois with highest honors in Political Science and plans to pursue a Master's in Education. At Glenbrook North, his debaters have been in late elimination rounds of almost every major tournament, losing in semis more times than he can remember. In addition, his debaters have won the NDCA Championship three years straight, closing out the tournament in 2008. Although Ari cleared at the TOC, his proudest accomplishment came on the local circuit, closing out the Illinois state tournament with his best friend, Lumpy.
Scott Robinson, Ph.D.
Dr. Robinson has over a decade of LD coaching experience both in Texas and on the national circuit. As a competitor for Duncanville High School he cleared to elimination rounds at the TFA state tournament and the NFL national tournament, as well as qualifying for the 5A division of the UIL state tournament. In the time that Dr. Robinson worked toward his undergraduate degree (eventually a B.A. in Government and Politics - summa cum laude) at the University of Texas, Dallas, he was also an assistant coach in LD debate at Newman Smith High School, where his students had remarkable success locally and nationally. Their accomplishments include two individual debaters both in semi-finals of TFA state in one year, teams in late elimination rounds at Emory, St. Marks, and the NFL National tournament, as well as champion of the first Greenhill Round Robin. Dr. Robinson's students were also invited to multiple other national round robins including Bronx Science, MBA, and the Gulf Coast round robins.
Dr. Robinson taught at the Kentucky National Debate Institute LD workshop from 1997-2002 and 2004. In various years he served as both the LD fellow's program coordinator and as the coordinator for the Kentucky novice program. In these years his lab students have gone on to win Greenhill, St. Marks, Glenbrooks, Emory, Harvard, the TOC and the NFL National tournament. In this time he has also written a series of textbooks on LD debate practice and argumentation for Paradigm Research, Inc. He was a contributor to the Paradigm LD Topic Analysis from 1997-2002. He also wrote the LD Positions series of philosophy texts (6 volumes, each in two editions), the LD Roadguide textbook (also in two editions), and Coaching for Success in LD Debate. Most recently he co-authored a pair of articles for The Rostrum on teaching LD research skills. All told he has over a million words in print on the subject of LD debate.
In 1997, Scott Robinson moved to Texas A&M University to complete a PhD in Political Science (completed in 2001). He has subsequently become an award winning teacher at Rice University, the University of Texas - Dallas, and Texas A&M University. The regularly teaches courses on public leadership and management. His original research on education policy. presidential politics, and disaster/emergency management has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, the Public Manager, Public Performance and Management Review, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, Policy Studies Journal, Review of Policy Research, and Presidential Studies Quarterly (as well in chapters in several edited volumes). His current research at the Bush School for Government and Public Service focuses on the mobilization of nonprofit organization and charities to assist in disaster preparedness and response.
Dr. Robinson brings unparalleled expertise in empirical social research to the Mean Green Debate Institute. In addition to his expertise on social and political theory, Dr. Robinson has the advantage of being an active researcher able to share with students the most cutting edge theories of social and political change. Dr. Robinson's professional site may be viewed here: http://bush.tamu.edu/facultyspotlight/srobinson1109/.
Coral Rojas
Coral is a freshman in college and competed in Lincoln Douglas debate for four years at Fort Lauderdale High School. She debated in both national and local circuits, qualifying to NFL Nationals her junior year, and to TOC her senior year. She has been invited to several round robins and cleared at the Florida state tournament all three years she qualified, finishing third her senior year. She continues to judge for, and coach, her former high school and attended the Mean Green Workshops the summer of her senior year. Coral is a frequent judge at national circuit event and, as importantly, does a fantastic job of communicating to competitors the need to communicate with a wide range of judges while offering suggestions to do just that. We are pleased to have her join us in Denton this summer.
Danielle Smogard
Danielle Smogard graduated in 2009 from the Greenhill School. Throughout high school she achieved notable success at local, state, and national level tournaments. She appeared in elimination rounds and received high speaker awards at almost every TOC qualifying tournament she attended including St. Marks, Apple Valley, Glenbrooks, and Berkeley. She reached the semi finals of the Colleyville Heritage Winter Invitational as a sophomore, the semifinals of the Barkley Forum for High Schools (Emory) as a junior, and was in the finals of the Grapevine Fall Classic her senior year. She was a three time quarterfinalist at the TFA State tournament, received 3rd place at the Montgomery Bell Academy Round Robin twice, and was invited to the Greenhill Round Robin twice, her senior year placing second in her pod. Her senior year she was the top seed at the TOC and got 6th place at the NFL National tournament after going undefeated in prelims. Danielle volunteered at the Philadelphia Debate Institute the summer before her senior year, working for a week with novice and JV debaters in the Philadelphia area. In addition to working with younger debate students there, she has worked closely with the other members of the Greenhill team. Danielle attended Mean Green Workshop in 2006, 2007, and 2009 as staff and is excited to return for the summer of 2010!
Chris Theis
Chris graduated from Apple Valley High School in 2009. He currently attends the University of Minnesota and coaches at Apple Valley (MN) and Trinity Prep (FL). Chris Theis is the only person in history to win the National Tournament of Champions twice. The TOC, however, is only one of a series of major titles that Chris has claimed - and defended - over his debate career. He is a two-time champion of the St. Mark's Heart of Texas Invitational, the Greenhill Round Robin, and the Iowa Round Robin. He twice won the demonstration round at the MBA Round Robin. He has won championships at the Barkley Forum for High Schools at Emory University and Blake Edie Holiday Tournament. He reached the semifinals at the Glenbrooks and Greenhill and claimed top speaker honors at St. Mark's, Blake, and the Iowa Round Robin.
Ed Williams
Bio Coming Soon! |
