Camp Faculty

Our camp couldn't be possible without the amazing efforts of our faculty. We're still in the process of confirming our instructor list for 2024's Plano West Camp, but for now, view our tentative list below!

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Faculty

Extemporaneous Speaking

Meet The Coaches

Team Coach and Curriculum Director
Coach for Debate & Extemporaneous Speaking

Meghan Clark

Meghan Clark joined the Wolfpack this year, serving as a head debate coach for our team. A Texas native who grew up in the Wichita Falls area and competed in extemporaneous speaking and Lincoln-Douglas debate for UIL; she placed second in extemp at the state level in both 2006 and 2007. She has coached speech and debate for eight years, including seven years at Newcastle ISD and one year in Plano ISD at Vines High School. At Newcastle ISD, she coached multiple students to regional and state success in Lincoln-Douglas debate, policy debate, and extemporaneous speaking. At Vines High School, she coached students to an NSDA district championship and the semifinalist round at Nationals. She enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with family, and lives in the Frisco area.

Team Coach and Curriculum Director
Coach for Oral Interp & Public Address

Reggie Chapman

Reggie Chapman is the head speech coach for Plano West. Plano West has produced multiple state and national champions in speech and debate events over the years, earning the school a spot among the top 10 debate schools in the nation for seven years in a row. As a competitor, Reggie claimed 2 collegiate National championships; one in Prose Interpretation and the other in Duo Interpretation. As a coach, he has been blessed to work with some of the most talented students in the country, seeing some of his students go as far as winning the NSDA National Championship, the TFA State Tournament, the Yale Invitational, Emory Barkley Forum, and many more. He's excited to join the Plano West Camp for the first time, and teaching students new and inventive ways to help students bring stories from the page to the stage.

Instructors

All of our camp's instructors are accomplished at the national level, competing at prestigious tournaments such as NSDA Nationals, Yale, Emory, UT, and Harvard. Read below to learn more about some of the instructors teaching at this year's camp!

Kate is a graduating senior at Plano West / rising freshman at Harvard University who focuses on both domestic and international extemp. She is a two-time TFA State Runner-Up in Domestic Extemp, Emory Champion, and UT IX Champion. Kate was also invited to the prestigious Montgomery Bell Academy invitational for the Top 16 speakers in the country, and placed 6th of 200+ in the 2023 National Speech and Debate Association National tournament. She is excited to be teaching again!

Kate Lee

International & Domestic Extemp

Sasha is a rising senior at Plano West and is honored to be coaching the next generation at this camp. He specializes in Extemp, Congress, PF, and Worlds, having qualified to TFA State, the Extemp Tournament of Champions, the TOC, and the National Tournament. Sasha most recently placed 5th in DX and was named the Outstanding PO at State, won Arizona State, placed 7th at UT, and is your current District Champion. He’s also a senior lecturer for Equality in Forensics, where he’s taught over a thousand students.

Sasha Morel

International & Domestic Extemp

Kaaviya is a returning instructor and a graduating senior from PWSH / rising freshman at UPenn. She primarily competes in Extemporaneous Speaking, having broken to outrounds at national tournaments such as ETOC, TOC, Harvard, and UT, also placing 8th at TFA State. Kaaviya is also an active member of Texas's world schools debate team, where she has represented the state on the national level. She is excited to be a returning to teach Plano West's debate camp for the third consecutive year!

Kaaviya Shenbaharaman

Domestic & International Extemp

Evelyn Ding is a junior at Plano West and competes in Extemp and Congress. She has advanced to outrounds at multiple national and state tournaments, including semifinals at the Emory University Barkley Forum and TFA State. She has qualified to NSDA Nationals, TFA State, NIETOC, and TOC.

Evelyn Ding

Domestic & International Extemp

Sophia is a rising senior at Plano West and competes primarily in Extemporaneous Speaking. Since placing first at numerous tournaments on the middle school circuit, Sophia has won 7 high school tournaments, qualifying for TFA State, UK TOC, ETOC, and NIETOC. After co-captaining the Jasper Speech and Debate team, Sophia started her junior year at Plano West as a Longhorn Classic finalist and a TFA State Quarterfinalist. With a love for debate and teaching, Sophia is super excited for West camp and can’t wait to meet everybody! Go Wolfpack!

Sophia Wei

Domestic & International Extemp

Abe is a rising senior at Plano West and can't wait to teach at camp again! He competes mainly in extemporaneous speaking and has qualified to TFA State, Nationals, TOC, ETOC, and NIETOC. Abe has consistently made deep outrounds in several national circuit tournaments, most notably placing 5th at UT and 10th at Harvard. He can't wait to come back to West Camp to meet everyone this year!

Abraham Zhang

International & Domestic Extemp

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Tishya is a rising senior at Plano West and is delighted to be teaching at camp again! She primarily competes in Congressional Debate and has qualified to UIL State, TFA State, NSDA Nationals, and TOC. Most notably, Tishya has advanced far into outrounds at the Barkley Forum and Harvard Forensics Invitational in Congress. She is really excited to meet and work with everyone!

Tishya Banka

Congressional Debate

Tara is a rising senior at Plano West Senior High School and is excited to be teaching at camp this year! She has been competing in Congressional Debate for the past four years having qualified for TFA State and NSDA Nationals in her sophomore and junior years. Further, she has been competing on the local circuit for some time, championing and having top-five finishes at multiple tournaments. Her most notable accomplishments include making it into elimination rounds at Harvard and breaking into semis at the Longhorn Classic and TFA State. Tara attended West Camp as a freshman and is extremely enthusiastic to see everyone this summer!

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Tara Erry

Congressional Debate

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Anisha is a rising senior at Plano West and focuses on Congressional Debate, having qualified to TFA State and TOC and having served as Jasper's Congress captain. She made it to the semifinal rounds of the Emory University Barkley Forum tournament and the National Online Tournament Supplemental Events in Congress. Anisha is extremely excited to be teaching at the camp that she started her debate journey at!

Anisha Akula

Congressional Debate

Akash is a rising senior at Plano West. He focuses on Congress, where he qualified to TFA State and competed on the national circuit, but also has experience in both sides of Extemp. He is excited to help teach y’all at camp this year!

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Akash Viswam

Congressional Debate

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Jesse is a graduating senior at Plano West and can't wait to teach at camp for his third year! He focuses on Interp--mainly POI, HI, and Duo. Most notably, he's placed 3rd at Harvard and 6th at TFA State for Duo with his partner, Caleb, 1st at the James Logan MLK Invitational for POI, and is currently being the top ranked competitor in HI in Texas. Jesse is thrilled to meet everyone and help make West Camp productive, transformative, and, most importantly, fun!

Jesse He

Oral Interp

Caleb is a rising senior at Plano West and is excited to begin his coaching journey at camp! He focuses on Dramatic, Humorous and Duo Interpretation. Caleb has qualified for NIETOC, TFA State, and Nationals for many of his events. Most notably Caleb has recently placed 3rd in Duo Interpretation at Harvard, and 6th at state with his partner Jesse. Caleb is excited to meet the incoming participants for camp and can’t wait to see the talent they have to offer!

Caleb Wright

Oral Interp

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Samhita Venkat

Samhita just graduated from Plano West Senior High School and is excited to teach at camp! She competed in Program Oral Interp (POI), Dramatic Interpretation (DI), And Duo Interpretation. She is a Emory Barkley and Harvard quarterfinalist, and has qualified to TFA state, NIETOC, and NSDA Nationals. She is so excited to meet and work with all of you!

Oral Interp