COACH, PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE

Sasan is a longtime debate coach, captain of the nationally-ranked team at Diablo Valley College, and the founder of the Proteus Debate Academy.

He's won awards both as a competitor and as a coach, such as making the final round at the Phi Rho Pi College National Championship Tournament and receiving the Collie-Taylor Coaching Fellowship.

CAMP ADMIN

Joey competed at Stuyvesant High School from 2002-06, on a team that won national recognition and with whom he won the NSDA national championship in prose reading. He’s been coaching ever since, and began teaching in 2017.

Joey has a B.A. in Economics from Clark University and an M.A. in Education from Relay GSE. In a previous life with the 10th Mountain Infantry Division, he was commended for his work as a civil-military liaison, training officer, and WMD-detection platoon leader. If you count his year running an embassy-sponsored Pashtun radio station in Afghanistan, this is his second nonprofit aimed at improving civic discourse.

COACH, EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING

From 1999-2003, DiCo competed on the Stuyvesant HS Speech & Debate Team, where they were a state finalist in Extemporaneous Speaking and a national finalist in Congressional Debate. After graduating with a B.A. in Philosophy from Yale, they joined Teach for America and started debate teams at the Frederick Douglass Academy and Achievement First Brooklyn High School.

DiCo is a recipient of several teaching prizes including the Teach for America Alumni Award for Excellence. They have been named a Master Teacher by the Achievement First charter school network and a First Diamond Coach. In 2022, they were honored to receive the Brother Sterner Lifetime Service Award by the National Speech and Debate Association.

COACH, INTRODUCTORY COURSE

From 2009-2011, Jonathan competed on the Frederick Douglass Academy Debate Team, where he competed at national tournaments such as the Yale, Columbia and Harvard Invitationals. After graduating with a B.S. in Respiratory Therapy from Stony Brook University in 2017, he started working for NYU Langone Medical Center as a Neonatal Pediatric Specialist.

Jonathan is the author of I Wasn’t Supposed To Be Here, a memoir about his remarkable journey and the unique and diverse cast of characters who Jonathan met along his journey who helped transform his life from mere survival to unimaginable success.

Jonathan is also a successful entrepreneur who has founded Conyers Real Estate, Agbara Health Services, and Conyers Production Company.

COACH, CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE

Angie competed on the Cinco Ranch HS Speech & Debate Team in Houston, TX for four years. She won local and state tournaments in addition to breaking twice at NSDA Nationals and claimed the title of 2016 Texas State Champion in Senate Congress. She took her skills as an extemporaneous speaker and mock-senator to Columbia University, where she earned a B.A. in Philosophy at Barnard College in 2022.

She forever remains a student of knowledge, learning everyday from both her debate students and her ongoing Islamic and Arabic studies. Coach Angie guides her debaters to use their collective and individual voices for good - and is constantly striving to be a model of such.

COACH, EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING

Eshaal was the 2-year captain of Stuyvesant’s Extemp team, with accomplishments on the local and national circuit. Notably, she was champion at the 2023 NYC and Princeton Invitationals, placed in top 3 at two NYSFL State Championships, and was one of 16 invitees across the country for the prestigious Montgomery Bell Round Robin in Extemporaneous Speaking. She has also qualified for the TOC, NCFL, and NSDA nationals.

If you’re a Speech & Debate alum or coach interested in joining our team, shoot us an email and we'll be in touch.

joey@brooklyndebateleague.org