2025 Spring Session Staff - More Hires To be announced!

Luke is a current Junior at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia. He's gotten first place at UPenn, the Harvard Round Robin, and reached finals of the Florida Blue Key Round Robin and Octafinals at the Harvard Speech and Debate Tournament. He's currently ranked #7 internationally. Luke co-founded his debate team his freshman year and has coached for 3 debate programs in his career. He founded the Philadelphia Debate Institute and is very excited to instruct for our upcoming Spring Session!

Ben is a current Junior at the Hawken School. He's semifinaled the Ohio State tournament, broke at NSDA Nationals, and made Quarterfinals at the National Speech and Debate Season Opener and the New York City Invitational. He's especially passionate about writing well-researched case arguments. Ben has taught Public Forum debate to members of his team for 3 years and is very excited to meet the 2025 Spring Session students!

Sherry is a current Junior at Richard Montgomery High School. This season, she’s been invited to the Florida Blue Key Round Robin, reached Quarterfinals at the Glenbrooks Speech and Debate Tournament, and reached Octafinals at The Princeton Classic and Sunvite. Sherry’s passionate about effective case writing and back-half strategy, and she’s so excited to teach at Philadelphia Debate Institute’s 2025 Spring Session!

Leon Wang is currently a senior at Richard Montgomery High School. He’s top-spoke the Harvard Round Robin, reached Quarterfinals of the Glenbrooks Speech and Debate Tournament and California State Fullerton, Octafinals of the Princeton Classic, Sunvite, and New York City Invitational, and Double-Octafinals of UC Berkeley. Notably, he has accumulated 13 bids to the Tournament of Champions over his career. Not only does Leon absolutely love a good analytical round and highly-technical progressive argumentation, he is also well-versed in lay debate. Leon is very excited to coach at the Philadelphia Debate Institute!

Anna is a current Junior at Walter Johnson High School. This season, she advanced to elimination rounds at nearly every tournament she competed at, including reaching Triple-Octafinals at the Yale Invitational. Anna is a versatile debater, having experience with both first and second speaking. She's well-versed in US domestic policy and is excited to coach as an Instructor at Philadelphia Debate Institute!

Rina is a current senior at Dulles High School. She’s broken at 12 national circuit tournaments, including Triple-Octafinals at Princeton and Bronx, Double-Octafinals at Emory, and Octafinals at Longhorn. She's proficient in all styles of debate and has extensive experience being a first and second speaker. She’s coached 4 debate programs in the past 5 years, and she’s looking forward to instructing at Philadelphia Debate Institute!

Sherry is a current senior at Dulles High School. She’s advanced to elimination rounds at 12 national circuit tournaments, including Triple-Octafinals at the Princeton Classic and the New York City Invitational, Double-Octafinals at Emory Forum, and Octafinals at the University of Texas at Austin Classic, debating both lay and tech and as first and second speaker. She’s taught debate at various levels for 5 years, and she’s super excited to instruct at the Philadelphia Debate Institute!

Claire is a current Junior at Bergen County Academies in New Jersey. She has championed and quarterfinaled Princeton, reached finals of University of Pennsylvania, Octofinals of the Tournament of Champions, Yale, and Columbia. Claire is currently the director of Public Forum debate at her school and has experience working with students through organizations like W.inDebate, NOVA, Acclive, and more. She loves various aspects of debate, including both first and second speaking, running anthro framing, and writing nuanced arguments. She’s excited to meet everyone!