Classic
Debate Camp
July 11-19, 2026 New Location: Oberlin College
Hannah Owens Pierre
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Hannah attended Edina High School where she competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate for four years. She was a three-time national qualifier. In 2022, she was NSDA National Champion and 12th best speaker. In 2023, she was Minnesota State Champion and Top Speaker at the NSDA national tournament. Hannah is now attending Yale University where she studies Ethics, Politics, and Economics and competes in American Parliamentary Debate with the Yale Debate Association. Outside of debate, she enjoys reading, playing drums and guitar, and learning Latin. Hannah joined the CDC staff in 2023, took a year off in 2024, and is excited to return to the staff in 2025.
Doron Darnov
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Doron Darnov currently coaches Lincoln-Douglas debate for the Mountain View-Los Altos team near San Francisco, California. Previously, he coached LD at Millburn High School in New Jersey and British Parliamentary at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Doron's debaters compete in California’s uniquely challenging Coast Forensics League, which accounted for all of the top 4 finishers in LD at the 2024 NSDA tournament. His students have won numerous tournaments including the Jack Howe Memorial Tournament, the Stephen Stewart Memorial Tournament, the John Lewis Invitational, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational. In 2024, Doron coached the NSDA national champion in LD. When he isn’t coaching debate, Doron spends most of his time reading and writing: He is currently a PhD student in English literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has taught classes on topics ranging from digital media and AI to climate change and environmental history.
Evelyn Turner
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Evelyn Turner attended Trinity Christian School in Fairfax, Virginia, where she competed in Lincoln-Douglas Debate for four years. She was a three-time NSDA national qualifier, and also qualified for NCFL nationals her senior year. She became the first LDer in her school to qualify for both the NSDA and NCFL national tournaments. She served as her team’s debate captain for both junior and senior year. She was a quarterfinalist at the Pennsbury Falcon Invitational and a semifinalist at the GMU Patriot Games. She plans to major in history next year. Outside of debate Evelyn enjoys running, traveling, listening to music (mostly Taylor Swift), and spending time with friends. Evelyn was a camper at CDC in 2025 and can’t wait to return to share her love of debate with others in 2026.
Callista Martin
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Callista attended Bainbridge Island high school near Seattle, Washington, and competed in Lincoln Douglas debate for four years. She qualified for states her last three years, and attended NSDA Nationals in 2025. Her debate team started her freshman year, and was entirely coached by students. She’s been coaching LD for three years, and took over as president in 2024 and coached every speech and debate event for two years. She’s worked with students all across Washington, sharing old cases and framework curriculum with newer teams and debaters. She’ll be attending Gonzaga this upcoming fall, where she’ll pursue a major in Business Administration and a minor in Communications. Outside of debate, she plays oboe, flute, and bass trombone in her school’s band. She’s eager to continue teaching LD and to give others the confidence and skills she has gained through her time in debate. She's excited to join the CDC LD staff in 2026.
Paxton Sheppard
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
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Paxton Sheppard
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Paxton Sheppard attended Rigby High School and competed in LD for three years, serving as the team president his senior year. He is a three-time qualifier to the NSDA national tournament, going twice in LD and once in Policy. Paxton was the Idaho State Runner up in Policy his junior year and the state champion in LD his senior year. That year, Paxton placed 3rd at NSDA nationals and was the 10th best speaker. As a debater, Paxton specialized in traditional LD, with a focus on combining lay appeal with technical precision. Since graduation, Paxton has coached students from across the country. At the 2024 NSDA national tournament, he coached 7 LD entries, all of whom broke to elimination rounds. Additionally, in 2024 Paxton coached 3 different state champions in LD. Paxton is currently attending Carroll College where he is pursuing a degree in political science. When not coaching or studying, Paxton enjoys golfing, soccer, Overwatch, and spending time with his fiance Brooklyn. Paxton is a new CDC instructor in 2025 and is thrilled to get to work and share his knowledge of LD with campers.
Olivia Lowry
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Olivia Lowry competed for Dallastown High School in Pennsylvania. She started as a Public Forum debater but then transitioned to Lincoln-Douglas starting in her sophomore year. She served as Co-Captain of her school's team for her last two years, finding this experience to be one of her favorites. In PF, Olivia was an Octafinalist at the NCFL Grand National Tournament in 2022. In LD, she is the reigning Pennsylvania state champion (2023 and 2024). In 2023, she won 1st place in LD at the Three Rivers Tournament at Upper Saint Clair, she was an Octafinalist in LD at the NCFL National Tournament, and she was awarded 8th Best LD Speaker at the NSDA National Tournament. Outside of debate, Olivia dedicates time to policy work with a gender advocacy NGO, hiking, spending time with friends, and reading a book from every country in the world. Olivia became a CDC LD instructor in 2024.
Chris Chen
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Chris Chen attended Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana, and competed in Public Forum for one year before transitioning to Lincoln-Douglas for the next three. He served as a team captain his senior year. He is an NSDA National Semifinalist in World Schools Debate and an Indiana state semifinalist in Lincoln-Douglas. This year, Chris was also district champion in LD and the Indiana state champion in US Extemporaneous Speaking. In the fall, Chris will attend the University of Notre Dame, where he plans to study computer science and business. Outside of debate, he enjoys playing tennis, burning food (though he calls it cooking), jamming to Bruno Mars, late-night Euchre with friends, and binging Suits. Chris was a CDC camper in 2023 and is excited to return to camp as an instructor in 2025.
Olivia Declercq
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Olivia Declercq attended Whitmer High School where she competed in LD for four years and served as a team captain for two years. She is a four-year NSDA qualifier and was a member of the Runner-Up team in World Schools Debate in 2022. Her junior and senior years, she advanced to the elimination rounds for LD at the national tournament, making it to round 11 her senior year. Olivia also competed in LD at the NCFL national tournament four times and was a quarterfinalist twice and a semifinalist once. Outside of debate, she enjoys fantasy novels, board games, and listening to music. She is passionate about teaching traditional LD and empowering debaters to develop themselves into excellent public speakers and masters of persuasion. Olivia is attending the University of Alabama where she competes in college debate and studies quantitative economics.
Danielle Stanley
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Danielle Stanley attended GlenOak High School in Canton, Ohio. She started her speech and debate career in Declamation but transitioned to LD starting in her sophomore year. She served as the LD Captain of her team for the 2 years that she was in debate. She was a three-time state qualifier and a one-time national qualifier. She coached Speech and Debate to marginalized students internationally during high school for the Eloquence Academy. Danielle graduated from high school a year early and is attending The Ohio State University, where she is majoring in biology on a pre-med track. She coaches 3 debate events, including LD at OSU. Outside of debate, Danielle enjoys working out, traveling, playing volleyball, skating, and spending time with friends. Danielle was a CDC camper in 2024 and became a CDC LD instructor in 2025.
Rich Kawolics
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Rich Kawolics began the Speech and Debate program at Laurel School in 2004, and since then he has coached all NSDA and OSDA events. His favorite event, however, has long been Lincoln-Douglas! Rich has coached five Ohio state champions in various events, including the 2023 LD state champion. He is an NSDA Three-Diamond coach. He is a former Chair of the OSDA Board of Directors and remains highly committed to equity and inclusion within the speech and debate community. At the 2023 Ohio state tournament, Rich was inducted in the OSDA Coaches Hall of Fame, making him the third CDC Hall of Fame coach, following Leslie Muhlbach (2014) and Peter Paik (2020). Rich joined the CDC LD staff in 2023, and he became the LD Curriculum Coordinator in 2024.