Many Speech & Debate summer camps provide crucial instruction, but are often unaffordable to students. We hope to lessen resource disparity in the debate community by running entirely virtual, free camp sessions taught by successful high school students and alumni.
MEET THE TEAM
Neha is a senior at Hathaway Brown School, in Shaker Heights Ohio. A three year state qualifier thus far in Public Forum Debate, in 11th grade, Neha and her partner were the first to qualify in all of Ohio, and ranked fourth at the State tournament. On a national level, she is a 2 time NSDA national qualifier and placed 12th her junior year. Additionally, Neha has qualified to gold TOC, placed in the top 10 at Columbia, and top 20 at Stanford & the UK season opener, where she also received a speaker award and was denoted first seed in pre-elimination rounds.
In 2022, Neha was inspired to start Project On-Balance as a way to make debate a more equitable space in everyday life. She is ecstatic to continue working with the coaches and campers this summer and hopes to meet more new people!
Jack is a sophomore at The Ohio State University, majoring in Philosophy, Politics, Economics (PPE) and Data Analytics. In addition to placing top 25 at the 2021 NSDA National Tournament, Jack was a 4 time state qualifier. During his senior year, Jack and his partner Lucas lost just 1 round during the Ohio regular season, earning 7 bids in 8 tournaments, eventually making it to the quarterfinal round at the state tournament. He also served as the Director of Outreach for the Ohio chapter of Beyond Resolved. On the national circuit, Jack broke at several major tournaments his junior and senior year, including the UK Season Opener and Yale.
Jack has worked for Project On-Balance since its initial launch, and is excited to continue sharing his coaching and experiences with growing debaters!
Ella graduated from Kenston High School and competed in LD LD debate for 3 years. As a state qualifier, Ella has broken at several larger tournaments over the course of her career and also was awarded the 2022 City Club of Cleveland Championship. She has also qualified to the National Tournament in both LD and World Schools Debate!
Ella cannot wait to work for Project On-Balance as she believes that Speech & Debate develops all-around thinking skills and is excited to introduce people to such an amazing extracurricular. She in particular loves LD and cannot wait to work with the campers and other team members this summer!
Andrew is a Freshman at the University of Cincinnati. Having competed in Public Forum debate for three years, he was a two-year state qualifier and placed in the Top 30 at the National Tournament this past summer. In addition to championing four tournaments and ranking first seed at every major break tournament in Ohio his senior year, Andrew also has significant leadership experience; he was team captain and directed a public speaking club for middle schoolers.
Andrew joined Project On-Balance because he loves coaching and wants to remain involved with the debate community! His favorite topic to teach is weighing.
Maria is a Junior at Mesquite High School in Mesquite, Texas. She currently competes in LD, but has experience in other events such as Extemporaneous Speaking. Last year, she qualified to compete at the Texas State Championship, and has won regional awards such as 3rd place in Extemp and 4th place in Rodary, a Texas-specific speaking event awarding scholarships.
Maria first attended Project On-Balance as a camper in 2022. Having loved her experience, she applied the following year to be a coach as her way of giving back to the camp. She is passionate about helping make the Speech & Debate community more accessible to everyone.