2009 Staff Listings
 LD Director STACY THOMAS coached the 2007 NFL National Champion as the head coach at The Hockaday School in Dallas. In addition, she coached a sophomore to the third place finish at the 2007 NFL Nationals, putting her team one round away from closing out LD finals. She also cleared three students to octofinals at the 2007 Tournament of Champions. In 2008, she again had a student in the final round of NFL Nationals, placing second, and her team again cleared three students at the TOC, proving the consistency of her program. Her students have previously won UIL State, been in finals of TFA State, closed out finals of the UT Longhorn Classic, and have closed out quarterfinals at local tournaments. She has coached students to late elimination rounds at nearly every prestigious national competition, including finals at Greenhill, St. Mark's, Grapevine, Memorial, Big Bronx, the Victory Briefs Tournament, Wake Forest, Lexington, and Blake; semifinals at Glenbrooks, Apple Valley, and Valley; and quarterfinals at Emory. Ms. Thomas is known for being a hands-on coach who judges LD nearly every weekend of the school year. She formerly directed the debate team at S. F. Austin High School in Austin and has previously worked at the Championship Group in Texas and the Victory Briefs Institute in California. In high school, she was a successful Lincoln-Douglas debater herself, winning the 1989 Arizona State Championship. She holds a master’s in education from the University of Texas at Austin with a focus on curriculum development and a bachelor’s in journalism from Northwestern University. She is looking forward to heading up UTNIF for her fifth summer.
 Josh AGUILAR is an active LD judge and the assistant coach at Salado High School, where he has worked diligently to help the team branch out to be competitive at national tournaments without sacrificing its strong local roots. Josh's students have reached elimination rounds at TFA State and NFL Nationals. This year, he also coached a student to win the UT-Austin Longhorn Classic, as well as earn TOC bids at Greenhill, St. Mark's, and Grapevine. When he was a student at Hays High School, Josh competed successfully himself in LD for four years in the Austin area, qualifying for TFA State, UIL State, and NFL Nationals. Despite limited opportunities to travel, Josh reach elimination rounds at Grapevine, Churchill, and the Longhorn Classic. He is a wonderful role model for local students who are beginning to travel outside their regions and has a great appreciation for the variety of styles currently present in LD due to his experiences. He previously has taught at the Texas Speech and Debate Camp and The Championship Group. He currently is a senior at UT-Austin, where his major is rhetoric and writing, and he is a former UTNIF top lab alum. Last year, Josh received the highest reviews from his UTNIF lab students for his patient teaching style, demonstrated dedication, engaging humor, and focus on inclusion for all students in debate.
Perry BEARD has been involved in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and competitive forensics for more than 20 years. In that time, he has been a competitor; a college assistant coach; a judge at local, state, and national tournaments; and a debate coach at R.L. Turner, Cinco Ranch, and Seven Lakes high schools. He has qualified more than 35 students to the TFA State Tournament in Lincoln Douglas, including two quarterfinalists in 2007. Perry is also the coach of the 2006 and 2007 UIL 5A State champions in Lincoln Douglas. Additionally, his students have been invited to the Greenhill and Gulf Coast round robins. With more than 10 years of classroom teaching experience, Perry has the proven skills to assess what students need from their camp participation and to help them succeed at every level. We are happy to have Perry returning for his third summer with UTNIF since 2004. Perry also has been a lab leader at UNT's Mean Green Workshops.
Ryan BENNETT graduates this year from Southlake Carroll High School, where he has debated for four years. A highly self-driven learner, Ryan's debate career has demonstrated an appreciation for diversity in style and knowledge. Focused first on the educational benefits of the activity, Ryan has proven himself to be an avid reader in his debate preparation, helping him develop extensive understanding of many areas in philosophy, logic, and psychoanalytic theory, which he has incorporated into his case positions. This dedication and strong work ethic have resulted in a great many successes as a competitor, including advancing to elimination rounds at NFL Nationals as a sophomore and TFA State as a junior. Ryan also competed at the Tournament of Champions as a junior. As a senior, he again has qualified to TFA State and the TOC, earning bids at St. Marks, Harvard, Emory, and Greenhill, where he was a semifinalist. He also has participated in several prestigious round robins, including those at Greenhill, Montgomery Bell Academy, and Archer, which he won. At home in the DFW area, Ryan has won several local competitions over his time as a debater, including tournaments at the University of North Texas, Hockaday, and Plano Senior. Ryan is excited to join the UTNIF staff this summer to share his love of learning and passion for debate with our students.
Andrew COCKROFT graduated from Elkins High School in the Houston area, where he debated Lincoln-Douglas for four years. Despite limited ability to travel, Andrew made the most of his opportunities in Texas, and with great self motivation, he was competitive among the top national debaters. His hard work earned him qualification to the 2008 Tournament of Champions, where he finished as a quarterfinalist. He earned his TOC bids as a finalist at Grapevine and a semifinalist at St. Mark's. He also was in elimination rounds of every tournament he attended his senior year, including Memorial and the UT-Austin Longhorn Classic. Additionally, Andrew qualified for TFA state for three consecutive years, where he cleared as second seed and finished as a quarterfinalist as a senior. He currently attends UT-Austin where he is majoring in philosophy. During his first year of college, he has been coaching for Dulles High School, where he has helped debaters reach elimination rounds of almost every major tournament in Texas, including bid rounds at Grapevine and St. Mark's. As a former UTNIF top lab student, Andrew is excited to return to the camp as an instructor for his second year. His UTNIF lab students last year praised his ability to break down complex positions, his knowledge of advanced strategies, and his determination to help every student improve. Andrew also has taught at the National Debate Forum.
Tyler COOK graduates this year from Salado High School, where he has debated for four years. Tyler's debate career is a model of versatility and lesson in adaptation, having qualified for both UIL and TFA State each three times. He also advanced to elimination rounds at NFL Nationals as a junior and qualified to the Tournament of Champions as a senior, earning TOC bids at Grapevine, Greenhill, St. Marks, Lexington, and the UT-Austin Longhorn Classic, which he won. In addition, Tyler has been recognized with several round robin invitations, including those from Lexington, Archer, and Emory. Tyler's competitive record speaks to his ability to be competitive in a range of situations, from the most technical to the most persuasion oriented rounds, demonstrating his dedication to developing the variety of skill sets needed to be successful in front of any judge. With his meticulous preparation and close attention to case rhetoric and strategy, Tyler has proven that a debater from the smallest school (Salado is in the 2A division for UIL) can experience the highest level of accomplishment with focus, practice, and openness to the diversity of regions. In addition to UTNIF, Tyler will be teaching at the Texas Speech & Debate Camp this summer. We are happy to welcome him to our staff to share with our students his appreciation and talent for debate across styles.
 Chetan HERTZIG has been involved in Lincoln-Douglas debate for more than a decade. He has coached at Sacred Heart High School and Lexington High School, both in Massachusetts, as well as at Scarsdale High School in New York. Over the last four seasons, his students have won Harvard, the Glenbrooks, Yale, Lexington, Columbia, Manchester, the Montgomery Bell Academy Round Robin, and the Massachusetts State Championship. Additionally, they have placed second and fifth at NFL Nationals, and have reached elimination rounds at numerous tournaments, including the Tournament of Champions, Greenhill, Blue Key, Apple Valley, and Emory. Collectively, Chetan's students over his coaching career have accumulated nearly 60 TOC bids. The diversity of his students' success speaks for Chetan's ability to help students across circuits, regions, and styles. In high school, Chetan debated for Lexington, and was the 1998 NCFL champion. In addition to seven previous summers at UTNIF, he has taught debate at the National Debate Forum, the University of San Diego's Speech and Debate Forum, the National Symposium for Debate, and UNT's Mean Green Workshops. He holds a bachelor's degree from Brandeis University in sociology, a law degree (Juris Doctor) from Boston College, and a master's degree in the teaching of social studies from Teachers College at Columbia University. Presently, he teaches global studies, economics, and law and government at Harrison High School in New York. We are excited to have Chetan return to our faculty this year. He and Jenn Miller will combine their impressive experience and teaching abilities to coordinate curriculum for students at the novice and JV levels, giving UTNIF what we think will be among the strongest instruction for this age group that you can find in the nation.
 Dan JENNIS debated Lincoln-Douglas for three years at Hopkins High School in Minnesota. He competed at the 2007 Tournament of Champions after receiving an at-large acceptance following his semifinals finish at Stanford. A well-rounded debater, he achieved success at both the local and national levels, reaching elimination rounds at such tournaments as Valley, Iowa Caucus, Dowling, St. Louis Park, Blake, and Omaha. As former captain of his team, Dan helped several underclassmen advance to varsity elimination rounds when at Hopkins. In his two years of coaching, Dan’s students have advanced to late elimination rounds at tournaments such as Newark, Princeton, Crestian, Penn, Wake Forest, ASU, and Alta. This will be Dan’s third year working at UTNIF. In the past, he has received rave reviews from the students for his personable teaching style and ability to clearly communicate debate concepts. He received similar positive feedback as an instructor for the second session of VBI. Currently, Dan is a Radio, Television, and Film major at Northwestern University.
Garner LANIER debated all four years of high school in LD and policy at Bishop Kelley in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was successful in both events. Garner advanced to LD elimination rounds at NFL Nationals in both his junior and senior years. He has had numerous LD successes in Oklahoma: placing first at Districts, Regionals, and State his senior year and winning numerous local tournaments. He has traveled to Texas to compete at national tournaments, reaching LD elimination rounds at the UT-Austin Longhorn Classic and Grapevine. In addition, he placed in the top three of every local policy tournament he attended. Not only does Garner have experience as a debater but also with coaching. As president of his team in high school, he took on an active role teaching his peers. He has a great deal of experience leading practice rounds and research sessions, training novices, and assisting more advanced students. He also worked with the students who placed third and fourth in policy at the state championship in Oklahoma last year. Currently, Garner attends the University of Puget Sound where he is studying international politics and economics. During his first year in Washington, he has coached several students at local tournaments to elimination rounds, including two championships. Garner is a former UTNIF student and is returning to our staff for his second summer. Students at UTNIF last summer actively sought out his help and support and gave him rave reviews for being approachable, knowledgeable, and always willing to make every effort necessary for their improvement.
 Eric MELIN coaches debate and teaches history at Southlake Carroll High School in the DFW area, where he qualified the school's first participant to the Tournament of Champions for LD. Two of his sophomores closed out the 2007 Heart of Texas NFL District and advanced to late elimination rounds at NFL Nationals. His debaters have been in elimination rounds at many prestigious competitions, such as TFA State, Harvard, VBT, Greenhill, St. Mark’s, Churchill, and the UT-Austin Longhorn Classic. As a student, Eric was very successful himself in LD when he attended Grapevine High School. He was the champion of TFA State, the Greenhill Fall Classic, and the inaugural Colleyville-Heritage Winter Invitational. He also placed seventh at NFL Nationals and was a quarterfinalist at the TOC, which he twice attended. Additionally, Eric was invited to several major round robins, was a semifinalist at St. Mark’s, and competed in elimination rounds at Emory, Glenbrooks, and Isidore Newman. Today, Eric is a highly preferred judge with previous experience instructing camp at VBI and UNT’s Mean Green Workshops. We are proud to have Eric returning for his second summer as our lead instructor of top lab due not only to his extensive knowledge of debate but also because of his natural gifts as an educator. Eric received outstanding reviews last year from his UTNIF students for being highly approachable, invested in the learning process of each student, and capable of explaining concepts clearly to help debaters identify and understand areas for their improvement. Eric holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UT-Austin.
Jenn MILLER debated for four years, attending both Grapevine and Colleyville-Heritage High Schools in the DFW area. Before graduating in 2004, she earned many accolades locally and nationally. She qualified for TFA State for three years, as well as for NFL Nationals and the Tournament of Champions her senior year. She also reached elimination rounds at every national tournament she attended her senior year, including a first place finish at Vestavia Hills. She was invited to the Greenhill Round Robin and Southwest Round Robin, where she placed second. Since graduating, Jenn has become a highly respected member of the Texas debate community. She served as the assistant LD coach at Grapevine from 2005 to 2007 and now coaches at Marcus High School in Flower Mound. In past summers, Jenn has worked at the Capitol Debate Institute and UNT's Mean Green Workshops. This is her fourth summer on the UTNIF staff, where she enjoys leading our novice lab. In reviews, Jenn's UTNIF students have said that she puts the "fun" in fundamentals. She and Chetan Hertzig will combine their impressive experience and teaching abilities to coordinate curriculum for students at the novice and JV levels, giving UTNIF what we think will be among the strongest instruction for this age group that you can find in the nation.
Jessie STELLMACH is the head Lincoln Douglas coach at Minnesota's Rosemount High School. She returned to her alma mater in the fall of 2008 so that she could give back to the program that nurtured her debate development. In her first year coaching at Rosemount, multiple members of her new novice class have cleared to elimination rounds at many midwest tournaments, winning the novice Hopkins tournament and advancing at Apple Valley. Previously, Jessie coached LD at the Law Magnet High School in Dallas where her debaters advanced to late elimination rounds at many local TFA tournaments. In addition to coaching, Jessie also has served actively as a judge in Texas and on the TOC circuit. Her diversity of experience gives her appreciation for both traditional and progressive LD styles. Jessie is at the University of Minnesota studying history and plans to earn a teaching degree. Jessie participated in UTNIF's teacher institute last summer, demonstrating her commitment to debate education. She was so helpful with the students while attending the camp, from providing feedback in practice rounds to offering advice on cases, that we are happy to welcome her back in 2009 as the LD administrative assistant.
All faculty listings subject to change without notice and final contractual approval by the University of Texas at Austin. |
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