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Workshop Directors
Dr. Brian Lain, UNT Director of Debate
Dr. Brian Lain comes to the workshop having completed his sixth year as the Director of Debate at the University of North Texas. Brian attended Wake Forest University on a Presidential Scholarship, where he earned a top-6 First Round At Large Bid to the National Debate Tournament in two consecutive years. Brian went on to earn his Masters degree at Wayne State University in Detroit and his Doctorate at the University of Iowa.
Having coached for Iowa, Wayne State, and Emory (where he coached the 1996 NDT Champions) and taught at workshops such as Wake and Dartmouth, Brian's proven track record of success are even more evident in the new direction of the UNT debate program. We are proud to offer Brian's skills at this summer's workshops.
Jason Sykes, M.Ed., Institute Director
Jason has coached debate since 1997, and he worked at several summer institutes before establishing MGW. His students are highly decorated across several events; their accomplishments include participation in late elimination rounds in CX, LD, and Congressional Debate at virtually all of the most prominent invitationals and round robins in the country. At the St. Mark's tournament in 2006, Jason was presented with the Acolyte Award, which is given annually to the outstanding associate director of debate in the nation.
Jason will have completed his 7th year teaching at Grapevine High School, where he is Associate Director of Debate and UIL Academic Coordinator. He served on the TFA Executive Council from 2005 to 2009 and the Lone Star NFL District Committee from 2007 to 2009. He is a Ph.D. Candidate in Information Science at UNT, where he continues to assist UNT Debate.
Jason debated at the University of North Texas, winning several tournaments and speaker awards and advancing to the elimination rounds of more than two-dozen events including the National Debate Tournament in 2002 and 4 CEDA Nationals tournaments, where he was honored as All-American in 2002 and 15th speaker in 2000.
Originally from Nacogdoches, Texas, Jason won several awards in high school including 5th place at NFL Nationals, 2nd place at TFA State, an NFL "Quad Ruby," and 3 UIL District Championships; he also won the Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Award and 3rd place at the state level VFW Voice of Democracy contest. He met President Clinton as a delegate to American Legion Boys Nation in 1995.
Kandi King, Director of Residential Life
In a world where many debate workshops have college students in charge of residential facilities we are pleased that Kandi King, Director of Debate at San Antonio's Winston Churchill High School has agreed to return as Director of Residential Life at the Mean Green Workshops. Kandi is an experienced educator with over 20 years of experience teaching as well as working at debate institutes that gives her unique perspective on the needs of workshop participants. Kandi has had dozens of state and national level competitors including most recently a national runner up in Lincoln Douglas and a NFL national policy debate top speaker. Her student won the Texas Forensic Association state title in Lincoln Debate in 2004.
Respected by her peers, Kandi is a former Texas Speech Teacher of the Year; State Officer of Texas Forensic Association for 18 years and past President; charter member of the Iowa Summer Debate Institute and is a current member of the National Forensic League Executive Council. We are honored that she has decided to join us again this summer. |
