Type: Senior

Brittany Stanchik

Brittany Stanchik is in her eighth year coaching Congressional Debate at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, AZ and is the new Director of Forensics at DV. Over the course of her coaching career, she has coached numerous TOC qualifiers, including 7 finalists, 18 NSDA National Finalists, and 7 National Semifinalists. In 2014 alone, Brittany coached five students to the Final Round of Congressional Debate at NSDA Nationals.

Brittany understands the need to preserve the tradition and educational aspects of Congressional Debate but has learned the progression that naturally comes with the event; she teaches students how to adapt in a quickly changing environment by having them focus equally on three pillars: argumentation, presentation, and refutation.

During her personal career, Ms. Stanchik was in the 2009 NSDA National Congress Final and the 2010 NSDA National Quarter finals for Public Forum Debate. She graduated from Arizona State University where she majored in Communication and Justice Studies. She can’t wait to spend another summer with her ISD Family!

Rhonda Smith

Rhonda coached speech and debate for 21 years in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, spending the last ten years of her career at Plano West Senior High School.  She coached students at the local, state and national levels in LD debate, Public Forum Debate, Congressional Debate and Extemporaneous Speaking.   In Extemporaneous Speaking, she coached multiple champions at the Montgomery Bell Academy Extemp Round Robin, the Capital City Extemp Round Robin, The Harvard High School Tournament, The University of Kentucky TOC, and the ETOC at Northwestern University, as well as multiple finalists and champions at the NSDA National Tournament.

She is proud of the accomplishments of her team including multiple state awards and achieving the School of Outstanding Distinction Award for 5 straight years at the NSDA national tournament.

Rhonda retired from coaching but continues consulting with students who are competitive on the state and national extemp circuit.  She is excited to join the ISD faculty in 2022 in both Florida and Carolina.
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In her spare time, Rhonda enjoys spending time on her ranch in Texas with her husband of 30 years, where she raises goats and Red Angus cattle.

Yatesh Singh

Yatesh Singh is the head coach for Speech at Edina High School in Minnesota. With two decades of coaching experience in various debate and speech events, his students have won or reached late elimination rounds of a variety of national tournaments including Blake, Bronx Science, the Extemp TOC, Glenbrooks, Harvard, MBA, NIETOC, & NSDA Nationals. He received the 2024 Golden Apple award at the Minneapple for community service and serves as Co-Chair for Extemp prep at NSDA Nationals. He encourages students to come say hello in the prep room! He has been with ISD since 2018 and is excited to return this summer!

Jay Rye

Jay Rye first became involved with Speech & Debate as a high school competitor in 1985, and has served as the Director of Speech & Debate at The Montgomery Academy in Montgomery, Alabama, since 1991. As a competitor for and graduate of the University of Alabama, Jay was the recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award from Delta Sigma RhoTau Kappa Alpha, the collegiate honor society for speech education. As a six-diamond coach, he has served as the District Chair of the Mockingbird District since 1999  and has been awarded the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards for District Chair Service as well as being named District Chair of the Year in 2009. In 2007 he was elected a Key Coach of the Barkley Forum at Emory University in Georgia and in 2009 was the recipient of the Bronx Achievement Award by the Bronx High School of Science in New York. In 2013, Jay was the recipient of the Brother Polowy Coaching Award by Holy Cross in Louisiana and in 2014 was named the Jenny Cook Mentorship Award by the University School in Florida. The NSDA awarded him the Pelham Commendation in 2019.

Jay has coached 178 individual state champions along with 158 National Speech & Debate Association qualifiers in all events, including the 2006 National Champion in Dramatic Interpretation. Jay served as the Chair of the Host Committee for the National Tournament of the National Speech & Debate Association in 2009, 2013, and 2017. He is an inducted member of the Alabama Speech & Debate Coaches Hall of Fame and the National Speech & Debate Coaches Hall of Fame. In 2014, Jay was elected to the Board of Directors for the NSDA and on August 1st, 2026 will become the President.

Angelique Ronald

After 15 years of coaching, Angelique Ronald has refocused her attention to advocating for matters of equity and inclusion in the world of speech and debate. Through publications (including Rostrum winter 2017 article “Women In Competitive Forensics”), national conference presentations (2018: “Fostering Inclusivity and Safe Spaces at Tournaments: Best Practices” and 2019: “Gender Inequity in Speech and Debate: A Solutions-Focused Discussion”), and advocacy in California and beyond, Angelique promotes solutions-based, culture-wide changes to make forensics a more accessible, open, and safe space for all.

Angelique currently serves as the State Tournament Director / Vice President of Activities of the California High School Speech Association, the co-President of the Southern Valley Forensic League, and a member of the Sierra District Committee for the National Speech and Debate Association.

Crawford Leavoy

Crawford Leavoy is the Director of Speech & Debate at Durham Academy in Durham, NC. Throughout his years coaching throughout the Southeast, Crawford has coached multiple TOC Qualifiers, NCFL Qualifiers and NSDA Qualifiers. His students have gone on to be the Runner-Ups & 3rd Place in Public Forum in NSDA, 9th Place in Lincoln Douglas, 9th Place in International Extemporaneous Speaking and multiple Semifinalists in Congressional Debate. At the 2020 NSDA National Tournament, Durham Academy was recognized as a School of Outstanding Distinction (Top-10 school).

​Crawford focuses into creating a diverse team with well-rounded students. He works closely with students in Lincoln-Douglas, Congressional Debate and Interpretation.

Crawford serves on the NSDA’s Lincoln-Douglas Wording Committee, NSDA Tarheel East District Chair and the Director of Debate for the Dogwood Speech and Debate League.

Amy Lattimore, RN BSN

Amy Lattimore is a school nurse for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Before working at CMS, Amy worked in a variety of nursing roles including in Pediatrics and the PICU in hospitals in the Charlotte and Chicago areas. At ISD, Amy lives in the dorms and is available 24/7 for any health concern that may arise for our students. She handles all medication distribution and ensures that students receive the care and attention that they need while away from home.

2024 will be Amy’s 9th summer with ISD and she cannot wait to return for another summer with her ISD Family!

Jennifer Jerome

Jennifer Jerome serves as Curriculum Director for the ISD Coaches Clinic, bringing more than 35 years of experience in coaching, communication education, leadership development, and curriculum design. After retiring from public education in 2026, Jennifer transitioned into executive communication coaching, where she now helps leaders, sales professionals, and organizations communicate with greater confidence, clarity, and impact.

Jennifer’s coaching career began in 1989 and has been defined by a commitment to developing effective communicators and strong leaders. A member of the National Speech & Debate Association since 1996, she served on the National Speech & Debate Association Board of Directors from 2014-2024 and has been a leader within the Nebraska speech and debate community for more than two decades. She served on the Nebraska District Committee beginning in 2002, including multiple terms as district chair, and directed the 2010 NCFL Grand National Tournament in Omaha. She also served as Archdiocese of Omaha Speech League Director for twenty years.

Throughout her coaching career, Jennifer guided numerous state champions, national finalists, and national champions, including the 2018 NIETOC Expository Champion and the 2019 NSDA Student of the Year. Her contributions to communication education have been recognized with the James Thurber Distinguished Teacher Award, Nebraska NSDA Educator of the Year honors, multiple Nebraska District Coach of the Year awards, and designation as an NSDA four-diamond coach.

Today, Jennifer combines her extensive educational background with her work as an Executive Communication Coach. She partners with executives, sales teams, boards of directors, and emerging leaders to strengthen executive presence, presentation skills, leadership communication, customer engagement, and interpersonal effectiveness. Her experience coaching everyone from high school students to C-suite leaders gives her a unique perspective on helping people communicate with authenticity, influence, and confidence.

As Curriculum Director for the ISD Coaches Clinic, Jennifer is passionate about equipping coaches with practical tools, innovative teaching strategies, and proven communication frameworks that help students and educators excel. Her mission is to develop the next generation of coaches who will, in turn, develop the next generation of confident communicators and leaders.

Meg Howell-Haymaker

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 Manuel

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!