Meg Howell-Haymaker is the Director of Forensics at Mountain View High School in Mesa, AZ. Throughout her 33 years as a coach, her teams have won seven state championships and fourteen NSDA District Trophies. She has had over 150 students qualify to compete at NSDA nationals, with many reaching elimination rounds and ten students have competed in various final rounds. She has also coached one student to the American Legion National Championship and six students to collegiate National Championships. In 2011 she was inducted into the NSDA Hall of Fame and in 2016, she was named the NSDA National Coach of the year.
Meg is excited to join the ISD Family this summer as the Curriculum Director for the Interpretation of Literature program. Her philosophy of coaching is simple: She will work with any student who has drive, even if finding their forensic strengths is an initial struggle. She cares about students and about forensics…and has seen the transformations that occur when the two are combined. She looks forward to working with you this summer!
Brian is the Director of Debate at Edgemont Jr./Sr. High School in New York and Director of Policy Debate at Stanford University, in addition to serving as a consultant for the National Speech & Debate Association. Widely recognized for his unrivaled talent in revitalizing traditional programs, Brian was named the 2008 Michael Bacon Coach of the Year and 2016 Val A. Browning Director of the Year. He has been coaching for nearly 20 years and was recently elected to the Executive Board of the National Debate Coaches Association.
Under his leadership, Edgemont’s debate program has flourished, winning five state championships and countless speaker awards, as well as presenting to the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill. His students championed the 2015 Georgetown Day School Invitational and 2018 Mamaroneck Round Robin in Policy Debate; 2018 Harrison Round Robin and 2019 Newark Round Robin in Lincoln-Douglas Debate; and 2016 Lakeland Round Robin, 2016 Westchester Classic, 2018 University of Michigan High-School Tournament, and 2019 Lakeland Round Robin in Public Forum Debate. After past outround appearances in Policy and Lincoln-Douglas, Edgemont will be represented in all principal debate events at this year’s Tournament of Champions. Brian has enjoyed equal success at Stanford, where he coached its first team in two decades—and fourth team ever—to qualify for the National Debate Tournament, finishing in the top 30 in both 2013 and 2015.
Over the course of his professional career, Brian has coached for Harvard University, College Preparatory School, Cathedral Preparatory School, Chattahoochee High School, Lakeland High School, and Scranton High School. His students have advanced to elimination rounds at every major national tournament, including NSDA, NDCA, NCFL, and CEDA Nationals. He also coached the champions of the 2003 Big Bronx Invitational, 2008 Barkley Forum, and 2012 Golden Desert Tournament in Policy Debate, along with the 2007 NCFL finalists, 2012 NSDA finalists, and 2013 Phyllis Flory Barton top speaker.
During the summer, Brian serves as the Academic Director at the Stanford National Forensic Institute. He previously taught workshops at the University of Kentucky, University of Michigan, Georgetown University, and Millennial Speech & Debate. Brian is looking forward to his first summer at ISD!
Megan Butt is currently in her eighth year of teaching, and first year directing the speech and debate program at Providence High School. In her five years of coaching, Megan has helped coach over 70 state and district finalists, dozens of national qualifiers, and several state champions. She has also coached students to late out-rounds at NSDA Nationals, including assistant coaching both Carolina West district World Schools Debate teams to 5th and 8th place in 2017. Outside of forensics, Megan is an experienced classroom instructor who currently teaches English and AP Seminar, an advanced critical thinking and research writing course. When she’s not coaching debate, Megan enjoys her second-favorite pastime: arguing with her husband, Bilal Butt. Megan has watched her best students experience incredible growth at ISD over the years, and is excited to finally join the ISD family as a faculty member this summer!
Bilal Butt is the Director of Speech and Debate at Charlotte Latin School. Bilal is a one-diamond NSDA coach who was the North Carolina coach of the year in 2019. He has served on the Tarheel Forensic League state committee, and the NSDA Public Forum Debate Topic Wording Committee. Over his time in the activity, his students have earned a long list of impressive results. His teams closed out Yale (1st and 2nd place), championed the George Mason Invitational, reached finals of Wake Forest, Durham, Harvard, Blake, and NCFL Grand Nationals, reached semifinals of the New York City, Emory, Sunvite, and Glenbrooks invitational tournaments. They also reached quarterfinals at the Tournament of Champions and top 8 at the NSDA National tournament in both Public Forum Debate and World Schools Debate.
