TM
Classic Debate Camp
Miami University, Ohio - July 13-21, 2024
Hannah Owens Pierre
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Hannah Owens Pierre attended Edina High School in Minnesota where she competed for four years in Lincoln-Douglas debate. She was captain of Edina's LD team her senior year. She is a three-time national qualifier. In 2022, Hannah was the National Speech and Debate Association National Champion in LD. In 2023, Hannah was the Minnesota State Champion in LD. Outside of debate, Hannah enjoys reading, journalism, Latin, listening to political podcasts, and eating apples. In 2024, Hannah will be returning to CDC for her second year on the LD staff, and she is super excited to be the new LD House Coordinator, taking over the job from Isaiah Paik, the founder of the CDC LD house system.
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. She is so excited to be joining the staff and teaching at CDC this year!
Wes McGovern
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Wes McGovern is graduating from Summit High School in Bend, Oregon, this spring. He competed in debate for three years and was the Summit team captain for two years. Wes is the 2024 Oregon State Champion in both LD and Extemporaneous Speaking. He is also a three-time national qualifier. In 2023, his World Schools Debate team made it to double octofinals. This year, Wes has won some of the largest tournaments in his state and has won or made it to final round in the last seven tournaments he has competed in — ranging from regional to national and TOC tournaments. Wes is a traditional LD debater but is excited to show campers that you can beat progressive debaters without changing your style. He will attend Fordham College Lincoln Center this fall, where he will continue to compete in debate and study political science. Outside of debate, Wes enjoys journalism, serving on the Superintendent's Advisory Council, fishing, biking, and snowboarding. Wes attributes his success in debate to attending CDC in 2022, and he is so excited to return as an instructor!
Allie Dettelbach
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Allie Dettelbach attended Hawken School, where she competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate for all of high school. At Hawken, Allie co-captained the LD team her junior year and served as the Vice-President of Debate. She qualified to States three times, advancing to octafinals twice and quarterfinals once. Allie was the 2020 Cleveland City Club Champion. Also, at the end of her junior year, she placed 6th at the 2020 NSDA national tournament, auto-qualifying to nationals her senior year, when she placed 5th. Allie is passionate about teaching traditional LD debate and has helped teammates and campers of all skill levels to succeed. She was also a co-founder of Ohio for Equity, a student-run organization to combat inequity in the debate community. She is now attending Yale University where she is studying history. Allie was a CDC camper in 2019 and 2020, and she was a CDC instructor in 2021 and 2022. After a year off, Allie is thrilled to return to the staff in 2024!
Abby Poprocki
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Abby Poprocki is graduating from Oakwood High School in Ohio this spring, where she competed for four years. She spent one year as a Public Forum debater before switching to Lincoln-Douglas. She is a three-time state qualifier and a 2023 NSDA national qualifier in World Schools Debate. Her WSD team placed in the top 32. She also placed 3rd at states in LD this past March. As a senior, Abby served as the Oakwood LD team captain, helping the team break a state record by sending 8 LD debaters to the state tournament. Outside of debate, she loves reading, playing board games, volunteering at the only peace museum in the country, and eating ice cream. She also enjoys being the captain of her local robotics team. She plans to study international relations in college this coming fall. Abby attended CDC in 2021, and she is extremely excited to come back as an instructor!
Owen Tilman
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Owen attended Colorado Academy, where he competed in Lincoln-Douglas for 2.5 years— serving as Speech & Debate Society President his senior year. In 2023, Owen won 3rd place in LD at NSDA nationals, as well as 13th Best Speaker. He was also 2nd Best Speaker in LD at the 2022 national tournament. A two-time district champion, Owen has championed/placed at multiple national circuit tournaments, including the CSUF Invitational, the Jack Howe Memorial Tournament, and the TOC-Bid Ed Long Invitational. He loves traditional LD, but also enjoys K-debate, reading critical lit, and LARP. Owen is attending Yale University, where he is a Philosophy major. Owen attended CDC as a camper in 2022, he returned to camp as an instructor in 2023, and will be back again as an instructor in 2024.
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 Debate! Rich has coached five Ohio state champions in various events, including the 2023 LD state champion. He also coached the 2023 USX state runner-up. 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). In his acceptance speech, Rich stressed the importance of the original mission of the OSDA, to expand access to speech and debate to as many students in Ohio as possible.
Genevieve Savage
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Genevieve Savage attended Parker School on the Big Island of Hawai’i where she competed in Lincoln-Douglas for three years. She was a three-time state qualifier and was the 2022 Hawaii LD state champion. In fact, after attending Classic Debate Camp in 2021, Genevieve was undefeated in the Hawaii Circuit throughout her junior year. She qualified for and competed in the 2022 NSDA National Tournament in Lincoln-Douglas. Outside of debate, Genevieve enjoys playing volleyball, reading, watching and analyzing psychological thrillers, and spending time with her puppy, Ichabod. She is studying English and Political Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. Genevieve attended CDC as a camper both in 2021 and 2022, and she became an instructor in 2023. She is very happy to be returning to CDC in 2024 for her second year on the LD staff.
Rachel Horowitz
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Rachel started her debate career at Dexter High School in Michigan as a Public Forum Debater and then spent three years at Olentangy Liberty High School in Ohio competing in Lincoln-Douglas debate. She was a two-year debate team captain and greatly enjoyed mentoring her teammates. Rachel qualified for states twice, during her freshman year in Michigan in the Novice Public Forum division and during her senior year in Lincoln-Douglas. That year, she advanced to the octafinals at the Ohio state tournament. Outside of debate, Rachel is a blue-belt in Taekwondo and enjoys spending time reading, watching crime documentaries, and trying to learn French. She is attending the Ohio State University and majoring in political science and economics. Rachel attended CDC twice, in 2021 and 2022, and joined the CDC staff in 2023. She is returning to the staff in 2024!
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Karishma Ponkshe
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Karishma Ponkshe attended Mason High School where she competed in Lincoln-Douglas Debate for four years. Karishma was the co-captain of her team, LD event leader, and a three-time national qualifier. As a sophomore she placed top 20 in Extemporaneous Debate at nationals. At nationals, she has also competed in World Schools Debate for two years and LD her senior year. She placed 5th at states her senior year. Karishma attended CDC as a camper in 2017, and has taught at CDC for 4 years -- from Kenyon College to Zoom to Miami x 2. Outside of debate, she loves to teach, whether as a teaching aide at a daycare or as a chemistry teaching assistant in college. Karishma is a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati where she earned her B.S in Medical Sciences and minor in Public Health. She is super excited about CDC2024, her 5th year on the LD staff!
Casey Powell
Instructor - Lincoln-Douglas
Casey Powell attended Cary Academy in North Carolina where he competed in Lincoln-Douglas for four years. He served as LD Co-Captain during 11th and 12th grade. Casey placed in the top 14 at NSDA nationals, qualified to NCFLs three times, and won 1st place at the GMU Patriot Games. Additionally, he was ranked #1 in North Carolina. He coached at the Triangle Debate League summer camp for two years and was active with Beyond Resolved. Beyond debate, Casey enjoys ceramics, thrifting, cross country/track, playing alto saxophone, and creating coffee concoctions. He is a University Scholar at Duke University, studying medicine and political science. Casey enjoys teaching targeted debate techniques and looks forward to working with you soon.:) Casey joined the CDC staff in 2022 and returned to CDC in 2023.