DEBATE & SPEECH STAFF
Richard Connelly
Executive Director of American Debate League |
Richard Connelly has been the Executive Director of the American Debate League since 2015. He graduated from Hampton University as a political science major. He has also studied Public Administration at Seton Hall University.
He has been involved with debate for over 20 years and was the founding coach at Bronx School for Law, Government, & Justice. Under his stewardship, the Bronx Law debate team became a national recognized team in Policy Debate. While their coach, for 7 years straight the Bronx Law debate team qualified for the New York State Forensics League Championships in Albany, New York. In 2004, they won the NYSFL Championships and qualified several teams to the National Speech & Debate Association Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Formerly the National Forensics League) Under the Leadership of Richard Connelly, the American Debate League has grown to partner with over 100 schools in New York, Long Island, Westchester, & New Jersey. Through our programs, the American Debate League brings the Power of Public Speaking & Debate to over 1,200 children a week. Richard truly believes in the American Debate League's mission: Helping children become better Thinkers, Speakers, & Leaders. During our awards' ceremony he is always having the audience scream the phrase, "Debate Changes Lives". He says the reason is that after 20 years of teaching, he has seen and witnessed transformation in thousands of children after they learned the skill of public speaking and debating. He continues to believe firmly in his heart that #DEBATECHANGESLIVES. |
Randy Mitchell
Director of Curriculum for Debate Policy Debate Instructor |
Randy Mitchell has been involved in debate since High School, when he earned several accolades as a policy debater, including finalist/2nd speaker at Harvard, Semi-Finalist/12th speaker at Montgomery Bell Academy, winner/1st speaker at Lakeland and Newburgh Free Academy, and 16th speaker at the Tournament of Champions. He was also a two-time NJ State Champion and National Tournament qualifier in policy debate.
From 2004-2013, he was the head policy coach for Newark Science HS, coaching 7 state championship teams and 8 teams to national tournament qualification during his tenure. Two of his former students have gone on to win the CEDA National Championship and the National Debate Tournament in Collegiate Policy Debate. He has also judged over 150 rounds of national level Policy competition, including several Round Robin tournaments. Since 2013, he has been a consultant for multiple educational programs and companies in such capacities as instruction, curriculum writing/review, and program administration in Debate and other subjects. He also has 16 years of classroom teaching experience from grades 7-12, with experience teaching subjects including US History, AP US/ComparativeGovernment, IB Global Politics, IB Philosophy, IB Theory of Knowledge, Ethics, Economics, Sociology, Business and Personal Law, and Financial Literacy, with the last several years being spent as an instructor and program director in the elite International Baccalaureate program. He has worked for the IB since 2017 as an examination grader for the Global Politics course. He has also been a curriculum writer for the largest school district in New Jersey and has helped to author three curricula, including Debate, US History and Financial Literacy. In addition to his Debate and Social Studies background, he has experience in tutoring an array of subjects and skills like AP Economics, Basic Investing, Reading and Writing, guitar, and violin. |
Luis Reyes Cardenas
Competitive Speech Program Co-Director |
With combined winning experience of over 40 years, Sarah Rosenberg and Luis Cardenas have coached students to hundreds of final rounds across the country. Their students have won DUO at CFL Nationals and have coached three National Champions in DUO @ NSDA Nationals.
They have had over 30 National Finalists at both CFL and NSDA and have won countless State Championships in California, New York, Philadelphia and Florida. They are the Directors of Speech @ The Stanford National Forensic Institute @ Stanford University. They also are The Master Speech/Debate Coaches for Democracy Prep Public Schools. They also started the first professional theater company in the South Bronx called Open Hydrant Theater Company. This is the first Equity ensemble theater company in the Bronx serving under-served artists. Their work also can be seen in the film, Shakespeare High, and the short documentary, From Bronx to Yale by The Guardian. Rosie/Lou have coached for Stuyvesant High School, Bronx High School of Science, Florida Forensic Institute, Bronx Prep, Holy Ghost Prep, San Marino High School, Cleveland High School, James Logan and The PUC Schools. |
Sarah Rosenberg
Competitive Speech Program Co-Director |
With combined winning experience of over 40 years, Sarah Rosenberg and Luis Cardenas have coached students to hundreds of final rounds across the country. Their students have won DUO at CFL Nationals and have coached three National Champions in DUO @ NSDA Nationals. They have had over 30 National Finalists at both CFL and NSDA and have won countless State Championships in California, New York, Philadelphia and Florida. They are the Directors of Speech @ The Stanford National Forensic Institute @ Stanford University. They also are The Master Speech/Debate Coaches for Democracy Prep Public Schools.
They also started the first professional theater company in the South Bronx called Open Hydrant Theater Company. This is the first Equity ensemble theater company in the Bronx serving under-served artists. Their work also can be seen in the film, Shakespeare High, and the short documentary, From Bronx to Yale by The Guardian. Rosie/Lou have coached for Stuyvesant High School, Bronx High School of Science, Florida Forensic Institute, Bronx Prep, Holy Ghost Prep, San Marino High School, Cleveland High School, James Logan and The PUC Schools. |
John Cronin
Public Forum Debate Instructor |
John Cronin has been involved in debate for over 20 years. He debated in High School and was also a top Moot Court participant. He attended Molloy College for undergraduate degree, then his law degree from Hofstra University. After a career in Law, he decided to become an educator and became a teacher in the in the Garden City Public School District.
He started the Garden City middle school debate team and teaches a debate class at Garden City middle school. He later founded a middle school Debate League which includes several schools in Long Island and New York City. The league’s annual tournament features the prestigious West End Secondary School (WESS) of Manhattan, which is known for their debate program. The Garden City Middle School Debate Team partners with the American Debate League to increase middle school debate in Long Island. This year, we partnered together with the American Debate League to host our 2020 Winter & Spring tournaments at Garden City Middle School. The Garden City middle school debate team qualified for the American Debate League 2020 Championships sponsored by NYS Senator John Liu. Mr. Cronin was a Senior Instructor at our 2019 American Debate League Summer Debate Camp at Queens College. |
Bency Pierre
Public Forum Debate Instructor |
Bency Pierre is a Humanities teacher and the Founding debate coach at the Academy Charter School in Hempstead, Long Island. He has been a debate coach for over 5 years. Mr. Pierre has made the Academy Charter School one of the top debate teams in the American Debate League. His debaters have qualified for the American Debate League championships.
Through his tutelage, he has taken the shyest scholars and turn them into champions. The highlight of his time as a debate coach was having his team qualify to be on the American Debate League travel team and competing at the Prestigious Harvard University high school debate tournament. Mr. Pierre has taught for the last two years at the American Debate League summer debate camp at Queens College. |
Brian Aguilar
Brooklyn & Manhattan Coordinator Public Forum Instructor |
Brian Aguilar is the Brooklyn & Manhattan Coordinator at the American Debate League and has taught public speaking classes at American debate league for over 4 years. He graduated magna cum laude from St. John's University with a double major in history and political science in 2015. He was also a member of St John's all 4 years. Mr. Aguilar debated in numerous debate tournaments across the country from the Yale Invitation to internationally in Budapest and Vienna. He believes the intersection of rhetoric, history, and politics is key to building and maintaining a healthy civil society and thus tries to impart his values unto his students. Currently he teaches the public forum style of debate with American Debate league but also has vast experience with British Parliamentary style through his time at St John's University.
In his four years as a debate coach, instructor, and coordinator Brian Aguilar has worked with nearly a dozen schools across the NYC tri state area through various educational institutions from local elementary and middle schools to charter schools and non for profits. He has led numerous teams to victory such as winning the American Debate League Elementary & Middle School Championships, and he even led his top teams to the Nationals in Fort Lauderdale Florida. He has vast teaching and communication experience working with students of various age levels from elementary to middle school and has taught with local public-school educators and has helped create debate and rhetoric classes in coordination to high ratings. In his spare time Brian Aguilar loves to watch films from across the world and time, listens to political podcasts, and travels extensively. |