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Congress

victoria beard

VICTORIA BEARD, CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

Victoria Beard has been the director of forensics at Spring Woods High School in Houston, Texas, for 18 years and has been a dedicated educator in the Spring Branch Independent School District for over 35 years. In 2019, she coached the NSDA National Champion in Congressional Debate – House and has also mentored state champions for the Texas Forensic Association, the University Interscholastic League, and The Tournament of Champions. Victoria has consistently produced top finalists at renowned tournaments such as the National Speech and Debate Association’s Nationals, Harvard, Glenbrooks, the Tournament of Champions, the Longhorn Classic, and the Grapevine Classic.

With a bachelor's degree in speech and theatre and a master's degree in theatre, Beard has garnered recognition for her outstanding contributions to education. She received the Jim Moore Memorial Award for Outstanding Educator at Spring Woods High School and the Stars in the Classroom Award, sponsored by the Houston Texans and First Community Credit Union, in 2021. Victoria was named Educator of the Year by the Texas Speech and Communication Association in 2013 and has been selected as Spring Woods’ Teacher of The Year (2013) and as a Spring Branch ISD Teacher of the Year finalist (2013). In 2021, she was honored as CASE (Children’s After School Education) Debates’ Coach of the Year. Victoria was inducted into the Texas Forensic Association’s Hall of Fame in 2022 and served on the TFA executive council for four years. She was also recognized as the Outstanding Educator of the Year for the National Federation of State High School Associations (Sector 6) in 2023. At Spring Woods High School, Victoria serves as the UIL Academic Coordinator and chairs the Fine Arts/Visual Arts Department. She has earned her third NSDA Diamond and is a member of the Space City NSDA Committee. For nine consecutive years, Victoria has been the senior instructor for Congressional Debate at the Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops. She also serves as one of the caucus leaders for the NSDA Hispanic/Latinx Caucus and has organized and taught speech and debate summer camps for the Spring Branch Initiative, benefiting SBISD high schools, for the past 15 years.

Instructors

Read more about our Instructors, click for Bio. 
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Ryan Nassif, Instructor

Jesus Silva, Instructor Cristopher Melendez, Instructor

 

Lincoln Douglas

harry yu

Harry Yu, Curriculum Coordinator

Harry Yu has been immersed in coaching debate since 2017 and has actively participated in the high school speech and debate community for the past 18 years. He competed in LD and Extemp for Spring Woods High School in Houston before assuming the role of Director of Debate at Memorial High School, also in Houston.

Harry's coaching prowess is evident through his guidance of multiple state and national finalists across various events, including two NSDA National champions in Congressional Debate. In the current academic year, his students have earned at least 5 TOC LD bids and 4 TOC Congress bids at prestigious tournaments such as Grapevine, Glenbrooks, UT Longhorn Classic, UH Cougar Classic, and Harvard-Westlake. Additionally, Harry has contributed to the Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshop for the past five years as a Public Forum instructor.

Dedicated to giving back to his school district, Harry has been involved in running and teaching at the local district camp every summer since his college days. His passion for debate is palpable.

Beyond his devotion to debate, Harry harbors interests in video games and collecting nerdy items such as comic books and shiny cardboard. However, due to his frequent travel and tournament commitments, he jests that his two cats likely view him as the sole being capable of operating a can opener.

Policy

Shree Awsare

SHREE AWSARE, CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

Shree Awsare boasts over 20 years of involvement in policy debate. He initiated his debate journey at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, California, and later established the Policy Debate Union at Columbia University in New York. Afterward, he pursued his legal education at the Georgetown University Law Center before transitioning to full-time coaching at North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, FL.

During his tenure as director, Shree has had the honor of coaching notable achievements, including the 2018 and 2021 Baker Award winners, the 2018 NDCA National Champions, and the 2019 TOC Champions and Top Speaker in policy debate. At the collegiate level, Shree has contributed his expertise at James Madison University, Emory, Harvard, and Northwestern. His coaching has led to the success of students such as the 2022 NDT Top Speaker and several First Round At-Large qualifiers to the National Debate Tournament.Recognized for his dedication and leadership in the debate community, Shree has been elected to serve on the Executive Board of the National Debate Coaches Association. Currently in his second term, he holds the positions of Curriculum Director and Coordinator for the Open Evidence Project. In his leisure time, Shree enjoys spending time with his golden retriever and four rabbits.

Public Forum

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Sohail Jouya, Curriculum Coordinator

Sohail Jouya boasts a decade-long tenure as a director and coach in collegiate, high school, and middle school debate circuits. Presently, he holds the position of Head Debate Coach at Poly Prep in Brooklyn, New York, a program renowned for its legacy of national circuit Public Forum success. With a wealth of experience, he has guided collegiate debate teams to deep elimination rounds at CEDA, qualifying multiple teams for the NDT, as well as coaching NPDA National Champions and NFALD National Champion teams.

At the high school level, Sohail has nurtured numerous Policy debate teams, Lincoln-Douglas debaters, Public Forum teams, and Extemporaneous speakers to impressive achievements, including appearances at the TOC, NDCA, NSDA tournaments, and notable success in deep elimination rounds of NCFL. As a high school director, he steered one of his programs to a #1 international ranking in terms of NSDA degree strength, culminating in victories at the NDCA Novice National Championships in CX and LD. Furthermore, he led a Kansas City Urban Debate League middle school program to a #2 ranking in NSDA degree strength, securing a quarterfinal placing at NSDA Nationals.

A passionate advocate for the activity, Sohail Jouya believes in the transformative and liberatory potential that debate offers to students.

Speech

Brian Darby

BRIAN DARBY, CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

Brian Darby serves as the director of Speech and Debate for Clear Creek High School in League City, TX. A graduate of Deer Park High School, Brian developed his skills as a debater before continuing his debate journey on scholarship at San Jacinto College. During his time at San Jacinto College, he achieved notable success, winning the Silver Award for Parliamentary Debate and the Bronze Award for Policy Debate in 2008.

Subsequently, Brian transferred to Texas State University, where he pursued a major in communication studies and a minor in mass communication while continuing his involvement in debate. Throughout his competitive career, he participated in a variety of debate events, including Policy Debate, Congressional Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, and Parliamentary Debate.

As a coach, Brian has guided students to finals and deep elimination rounds at both state and national levels in debate, speaking, and interpretation events. Before assuming his current role at Clear Creek High School, he served as the assistant coach at Alief Hastings High School for two years.

Instructors

Read more about our Instructors, click for Bio. 

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Eric Porter, Instructor

Carlos Diaz, Instructor

World Schools

faculty member

Andy Stubbs, Curriculum Coordinator

Andy Stubbs serves as the curriculum coordinator for the Houston Urban Debate League and the Harris County Department of Education's CASE Debates project. He assists in coaching numerous schools within the Houston Urban Debate League and consults for The Kinkaid School. Previously, he held the position of head coach at St. John's School. During his eight years coaching at NSDA Nationals in World Schools, his debaters clinched the 2021 NSDA National Championship, reached the semifinals in 2016, and secured four speaker awards. Andy's extensive experience includes roles as the director of curriculum and co-director of public forum at the Victory Briefs Institute, Director of World Schools at the Houston Urban Debate League Summer Institute, director of World Schools at the Texas Debate Collective, and teaching positions at Magnolia and UTNIF in prior summers. Additionally, he has contributed to the Houston chapter of the Rikers Debate Project, teaching debate to students incarcerated in the Harris County Jail.