Victory Okoroji is a senior at Hastings High School in Texas. She began her speech and debate journey in middle school as a debater. In high school, she found her passion for advocacy through interpretation, launching her career as an “interper.”
She qualified for state in Dramatic Interpretation as a freshman and excelled as a sophomore, reaching octo-finals at Harvard, qualifying for NIETOC and nationals, and quarter-finaling in Prose. Her junior year was a breakthrough, with numerous local wins, five state qualifications, a third-place finish in Program Oral Interpretation at TFA state, and she was crowned the 2024 NSDA National Champion in POI this past summer. Starting her senior year strong, Victory won first place in Oratory at the University of Texas at Austin tournament. She believes this is just the beginning and is excited to be at ISD this summer!
Location: Carolina Session 2
Eva Redmond
Eva is currently a senior at The Blake School and has debated there for four years. Eva has amassed 15 bids to the Tournament of Champions and won the UK Season Opener, Apple Valley, the Blake Round Robin (2x), the Ivy Street Round Robin, the Barkley Forum, and Minnesota State (2x). She has broken at the TOC two years in a row, receiving 5th speaker her sophomore year. She also loves sailing, playing with her dog, and reading. Eva is thrilled to be a part of ISD!
Zeke Ehrenberg
Zeke is a current senior at Delbarton School where he serves as the President of Speech and Debate. On the circuit, Zeke has been ranked the number 1 Public Forum team in the country two years in a row with two different partners. He has amassed 17 bids to the Tournament of Champions thus far, reaching quarter finals of Gold TOC twice and top speaking the division his junior year. Zeke has championed the Harvard Invitational, the Princeton Classic, the UK Season Opener, the Blake Tournament twice, the Ivy Street Round Robin, and the NJ State Championship. He has also reached deep elimination rounds at the Durham Invitational, the Durham Round Robin, the Applevalley Tournament, Sunvite, Yale, the Barkley Forum, the National Speech and Debate Tournament, and the University of Pennsylvania Invitational. Outside of debate, Zeke plays hockey and studies Arabic. Zeke can’t wait to work with everyone this summer!
Téa Shouldice
Téa is a senior at Half Hollow Hills High School East in New York. She has competed in speech and debate for three years and currently serves as the captain of Extemp and PF as well as co-president of her school’s team. Téa is the 2024 NSDA National USX Champion and Final Round winner. She also reached semifinals at the UKTOC, quarterfinals at NCFL nationals twice, quarterfinals at Yale, and championed the New York Chaminade Invitational twice. When not competing, she loves reading and refereeing ice hockey. Téa attended ISD and is thrilled to be returning to Carolina this summer!
Jordan Melamed
Jordan is a senior at American Heritage Schools’ Palm Beach Campus in Florida and is currently president of her Speech & Debate Team. Jordan has been competing in Speech and Debate for 7 years, with her experience being primarily in Congressional Debate. So far in her career, Jordan has finaled at Nova Titan, Yale, and Sunvite. She has placed within the top 6 at FFL Varsity States, Cavalier Invitational, Cavalier Survivor Challenge Round Robin, and Harvard Round Robin, also championing the Blue Key Round Robin before becoming the 2024 House Runner Up. She has presided over numerous outrounds, including Florida State Finals, FBK Semifinals, Yale Semifinals, Harvard Quarters, and NSDA House Finals. When she is not competing, Jordan is either listening to music, playing pickleball, or hanging out with friends. She is very excited to see everyone in Carolina!
Swathi Bodduluri
Swathi Bodduluri is a rising senior at Pennsbury High School. She has served as the Captain of the Speech and Debate team for the past three years while competing in Congressional Debate and Extemporaneous Speaking. Throughout her career, Swathi has placed 4th at NSDA Nationals, 5th at Yale, 6th at Glenbrooks, 4th at the Barkley Forum (Emory), and 5th at Harvard. She has championed tournaments like UPenn, Bronx, and PA/PHSSL State, as well as receiving a Harvard Round Robin invite! When she’s not debating, she’s reading, rowing, or with her friends. She can’t wait to see everyone in Carolina!
Jeffrey Miller
Jeffrey Miller is the Director of Speech & Debate at Marist School in Atlanta, Georgia where he has been since 2011. Jeffrey is a three-diamond NSDA coach who was the Georgia Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2023. He was also inducted into the Georgia Debate Hall of Fame in 2023. He has held leadership positions within the state organization as well as currently serving his 8th year on the NSDA Public Forum Wording Committee. Throughout his tenure at Marist, he’s qualified more than 100 students to the NSDA National Tournament and more than 40 students to the Tournament of Champions across all events. His students have reached late elimination rounds at virtually every national tournament in the country. He previously has worked as a Public Forum Debate Curriculum Director at Summit Debate, UGA, Emory University and Dartmouth College. Jeffrey is looking forward to his first summer with ISD!
Esther Oyetunji
Esther has done Speech and Debate for four years, competing in several categories such as Informative Speaking, Original Oratory, and Program Oral Interpretation. As a member of the American Heritage Speech team she has championed various tournaments ranging from Florida Varsity State, The Barkley Forum at Emory University, and Harvard University’s International Tournament. Most notably, she is a three time, back-to-back-to-back NSDA National Champion in Original Oratory. Esther is so excited to give back to a community that has given her so much!
Michael Hansen
Michael debated for four years at Durham Academy, winning three national championships, including the Tournament of Champions (Gold), NCFL Grand Nationals, and NDCA National Novice Championship, and ranking #1 in PF nationally for the 2022-2023 season (DD Rankings). As a junior, he was the Yale Invitational co-champion, the King Round Robin top speaker & co-champion, the PF state champion, and a three-time qualifier to the TOC and NSDA tournaments. Beyond competition, Michael enjoys hanging out with friends and family and helping others achieve their goals in Speech & Debate!
Bo Lint
Bo Lint is the Director of Speech & Debate at American Heritage Schools, Palm Beach Campus. In the past five years at American Heritage Palm Beach, Bo’s students have won tournaments like Yale, Nova Titan, Florida Blue Key, The Tradition, The Glenbrooks, George Mason, and the FFL Varsity State tournament, and have placed top-6 at tournaments like Bronx, Sunvitational, Emory, Stanford, Harvard, and the NSDA National Tournament. In addition, his students have earned over 100 bids to the Tournament of Champions (mostly in Congress), with 41 qualifying to NCFL Nationals and 39 qualifying to the NSDA National Tournament.
As a former competitor himself, Bo knows first-hand the transformational power of Speech & Debate and how much of an impact it can have on students’ lives. He has watched Congressional Debate change over the last 15 years and loves how Congress synthesizes the best aspects of other events together and is constantly evolving for the better. Bo is excited to join ISD this summer!