Middle School
What to Expect
Our Middle School division enters its 8th year and celebrates more than 700 students who have joined us since 2014. Our staff has worked with high school and middle school students for decades. We pride ourselves on setting the standard for debate training everywhere. With this model, we continue to provide superior summer instruction in competitive speech and debate for middle school students with the goal of remaining one of the leading Middle School summer speech & debate camps in the world.
Solid Foundations Built with Contemporary Instruction
Competing on today's speech and debate circuits requires the ability to blend an understanding of traditional concepts with an eagerness to explore new ideas and strategies.
Our senior teaching staff were selected because of their experience as classroom teachers who demonstrate a commitment to mastering changing practices. Building champions requires low teacher-student ratios, high quality practice sessions, and one-on-one attention. Our classroom sessions are limited to an 8:1 ratio. Students learn research, writing, and presentation skills and engage in daily practice. Our balanced approach ensures students have the most well-rounded experience possible.
Setting the Standard
As middle school debate continues to grow in the area and around the country, we are proud to be among the first to offer a summer program for competitive debate at the highest level. Our staff has more than a decade of experience directing one of the nation's leading speech and debate workshops. Alumni have enjoyed incredible success at local, regional, and national level competitions at the high school and college levels and have matriculated to some of the finest colleges in the world.
Purposeful lessons allow us to establish high standards targeted at building solid foundations reinforced through practice. Students in competitive debate at the middle school level excel over their peers in areas of critical thinking, close reading of literature, and writing. The confidence gained through participation positively affects students in all areas of their academic and social lives.
Student-Centered Instruction
Students are divided into small “labs” based on their experience which mimic classrooms and are led by two or more instructors. Our goal is to place our most experienced teachers alongside contemporary champions in each event to provide a well-rounded approach to learning. Instruction is tailored to the individual student with the goal of meeting students where they are and guiding them along their own competitive paths.
Individual Attention
As a father, a lifelong educator, and champion debate coach, I know well the importance of participation in speech and debate. In a rapidly changing world, young people require strong analytical and advocacy skills to face tomorrow’s challenges. Competitive speech and debate help provide these invaluable skills. More than just trophies, we aim to help students cultivate a voice. Speakers and debaters know this, and that is why many are already busy preparing for the 22-23 season.
Summer workshop is vital to the success of forensic competitors. A week of debate camp equates to roughly a semester of class time. In days past, these camps were afforded only to the elite, and their weeks of preparation put them far ahead of their opponents. Those students who wish to excel will be attending camp of some kind, and we clearly understand the kind of impact losing instruction will have compared to peers. This is why we have brought a national-level workshop to the North Texas area.
Middle School Schedules (Sample from 2024)
- Sessions will be held daily 9am-8pm with multiple breaks throughout
- Sunday instruction includes the option to sleep in and take a morning break
- More detailed schedules will be released in early June
Session Descriptions
Lincoln Douglas
This program concentrates exclusively on Lincoln Douglas Debate and aims to be the most rigorous experience available for Middle School LD debaters. This program will serve students with 1+ year of competitive debate experience. The lectures, strategy sessions, and curriculum will not repeat from previous years. Students will read and assess critical theoretical books and essays, will be required to engage in extensive research and progressive argument and case writing, and will learn how to work with advanced policy arguments. Participants in the advanced workshop will compete in a tournament at the end of the session. This program will provide the same curricular goals as a third-year high school policy debate program but is tailored for highly successful Middle School Lincoln Douglas Debaters preparing for a competitive tournament schedule. The LD Scholars program will invite our most competitive and experienced students into advanced sessions on their own that account for their previous success and prepare them for the next level.
Public Forum
This program will concentrate exclusively on Public Forum Debate and is suitable for students who have 1+ years competitive experience in PF debate. Students will receive instruction in Public Forum that will provide a foundation for Middle School tournament success. The program has a focus on balance, with a curriculum that concentrates on speaking, presentation, and delivery at the same time teaches research techniques, basic argumentation, and case writing. The goal of this session is to help students develop the skills necessary to propel themselves forward in Middle School public forum debate tournaments. The PF Scholars program invites our most competitive and experienced students into advanced sessions on their own that account for their previous success and prepare them for the next level.
Middle School Introduction to Speech & Debate
This session is designed for middle school students (grades 5-8) interested in gaining an introduction to a broad range of speech & debate events and is designed for students with less than 1 year of experience. Students will work in very low ratios with experienced classroom teachers to discover the world of competitive speech and debate. Consistent with our philosophy, we will focus on helping students develop a love of expressing themselves in a competitive environment while also offering an environment to improve academic skills. Concentrations include speech delivery, organization, and writing. Students will prepare and deliver speeches in Original Oratory, Extemporaneous Speaking, impromptu, Public Forum, and/or Congressional debate. Evening activities will focus on providing students with a break while also exploring concepts important to their development during this week. These introductory sessions are sure to provide a balanced experience that sends students home eager to continue exploring speech and debate during the school year.
Divisions, Dates, and Pricing
| Section | Dates | In-Person | Commuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle School – Lincoln-Douglas | July 5 – July 18 | $2,400 | $1,900 |
| Middle School – Public Forum | July 5 – July 18 | $2,400 | $1,900 |
| Middle School – Intro to Public Speaking | July 12 – July 18 | $1,300 | $1000 |
Division Director
Jason Sykes, Ph.D.
Dr. Jason Sykes is the Director of Speech & Debate at Coppell High School and a nationally recognized debate educator with more than 25 years of coaching experience. He has led our Middle School division since 2014.
Dr. Sykes previously founded and directed the University of North Texas Mean Green Debate Workshops for 13 years. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Science and is currently a JD Candidate at Syracuse University.
His students have earned championships and top speaker awards at the highest levels of competition, including the Tournament of Champions, National Debate Tournament, NSDA National Finals, and major invitationals such as Harvard, Berkeley, Glenbrooks, and Greenhill. Coppell teams have won six Texas Forensic Association State Championships since 2019.
Dr. Sykes was inducted into the Texas Forensic Association Hall of Fame in 2020 and is a Life Member of the National Debate Coaches Association. As a college debater at the University of North Texas, he competed in policy debate and advanced to elimination rounds at multiple national championship tournaments.
Dr. Jason Sykes is the Director of Speech & Debate at Coppell High School and a nationally recognized debate educator with more than 25 years of coaching experience. He has led our Middle School division since 2014.
Dr. Sykes previously founded and directed the University of North Texas Mean Green Debate Workshops for 13 years. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Science and is currently a JD Candidate at Syracuse University.
His students have earned championships and top speaker awards at the highest levels of competition, including the Tournament of Champions, National Debate Tournament, NSDA National Finals, and major invitationals such as Harvard, Berkeley, Glenbrooks, and Greenhill. Coppell teams have won six Texas Forensic Association State Championships since 2019.
Dr. Sykes was inducted into the Texas Forensic Association Hall of Fame in 2020 and is a Life Member of the National Debate Coaches Association. As a college debater at the University of North Texas, he competed in policy debate and advanced to elimination rounds at multiple national championship tournaments.
Assistant Division Director
Toby Whisenhunt
Director of Debate, Highland Park ISD for more than 2 decades.
Toby has qualified teams for the CX UIL State tournament more than 20 times, frequently reaching elimination rounds and winning in 2025.
Division Staff
Erick Berdugo
Director of Debate, South Grand Prairie
Erick has coached for over 30 years. His students have competed at national tournaments including TOC, MBA Round Robin, and Genbrooks. He is currently the Director of Debate at South Grand Prairie HS whose students have taken the LD division at the UIL District Level. Erick also teached college level Physics for high school students through the University of Texas OnRAMPS program. He is also actively involved in scientific research where he has several published articles in the fields of Physical Chemistry and Crystallography.
Cortez Proal
Cortez has been in debate for almost ten years competing in high school and college. He has participated in extemp, Lincoln Douglas, policy, IPDA and NPDA debate.
Hunter McCullough
Hunter debated at the University of North Texas where he advanced to the elimination rounds of several national tournaments including the NDT and CEDA. Since then he has coached many successful teams, including Highland Park, St Mark's School of Texas, and the University of Texas at Dallas, and he now coaches at the University of Kentucky.
Sirini Karunadasa
Economics student at the University of Texas at Austin with a strong background in competitive debate. During their high school career at Coppell High School, Sirini competed primarily in Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debate, reaching out rounds and bid rounds at TOC National Circuit (NatCir) tournaments as well as winning multiple Texas Forensic Association (TFA) tournaments. Sirini also served as Lincoln-Douglas Captain their senior year and achieved notable success as an octafinalist at the TFA State Tournament. Sirini has previously taught middle schoolers both privately and at the Coppell Debate Academy. This summer, Sirini is thrilled to join the Mean Green Comet Debate Camp as an instructor, where they look forward to sharing their passion for debate with the next generation of debaters.
Sua Cho
Sua is an incoming freshman at Boston University, majoring in education under the Trustee Scholarship—the university's most prestigious, full-tuition merit scholarship. She has experience in Lincoln-Douglas and Policy debate. Sua has judged both events at tournaments such as the Coppell Classic and The Ed Long Invitational. She has experience teaching Lincoln-Douglas at the Coppell Debate Academy. She looks forward to cultivating a welcoming and supportive debate community at the institute.
Chris Agee
Involved in speech and debate in the Dallas area for over four decades, Chris Agee recently retired from Newman Smith High School after 27 years of service to the community. He is a double diamond coach in the National Speech and Debate Association and was inducted into the Texas Forensic Association's Hall of Fame in 2015. A former policy debater for the University of North Texas, Coach Agee qualified for the NDT 3 times during his college career. Since then, he has experienced success in numerous formats and organizations, coaching students to local, state, and national success. Coach Agee is experienced in coaching multiple speech and debate events. In addition to private tutoring for middle-school students, he also provides coaching support to several schools in the metroplex, including Coppell High School and the Greenhill School. "Speech and Debate was a life-changing experience for me beginning at a young age. I was fortunate enough to build a career out of doing what I love the most--sharing these skills with others," he says. Adept at simplifying difficult concepts for younger debaters, Coach Agee is still actively engaged in the speech and debate community and looks forward to offering his unique set of skills to serve a new generation of competitors!