SWSDI brings together some of the most successful coaches and former competitors in the state of Arizona to provide top-quality forensics instruction. Our small size means that our staff will know you by name and you can receive individual attention from every faculty member in your event.

Kevin Coltin, Director, LD and Extemp lab leader

Kevin is the LD debate coach at Brophy College Prep and a student at ASU.  He competed in LD at Brophy for four years, where he qualified to Nationals and earned bids to the Tournament of Champions.  Aside from LD, he was a state champion in PFD, congress, and individual sweepstakes and a national finalist in Extemp Commentary.  He also holds the odd distinction of having been top speaker in all three debate events.  He coached the 2010 Arizona state champion in LD.

Peter Mardian, Director and policy lab leader

Peter debated for Brophy Prep from 2005-2009. He was a two-time state champion in policy debate and qualified twice to the Tournament of Champions and NFL Nationals, where he finished 13th.  He and his partner received invitations to prestigious round robin tournaments, won the Alta Invitational, and consistently reached late outrounds at other national tournaments. Additionally, Peter was the state champion in Extemporaneous Speaking and state runner-up in both Impromptu Speaking and Student Congress.  Peter currently coaches debate at Brophy Prep, where his policy debaters have qualified to the TOC and closed out the state tournament.

Beth Clarke, Congress and Extemp lab leader

Beth is the Director of Forensics at Brophy Prep.  She has made Brophy into one of the strongest all-around teams in the state and coached state champions and national qualifiers in numerous events.  In 2010 she qualified several students to the Tournament of Champions and NFL nationals in Congress, with one placing 14^th and another reaching semifinal, and coached a student to national semifinals in Extemp. The next year she coached another student to the TOC in Congress and one to national finals in Extemp. She was named the District 7 Outstanding Speech, Debate, and Theater Educator of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations. As a competitor in college speech, she took 3rd at Nationals in Extemporaneous Speaking.

Ben Kearl, LD lab leader

Benjamin Kearl is currently the Director of Lincoln Douglas Debate at Desert Vista High School. Ben has coached LD for more than a decade and has coached students to elimination rounds at national and state tournaments. Ben has also coached students to State finals in Arizona and qualified students to both the Tournament of Champions and NFL Nationals, where one of his students finished in 10^th place last year. In addition to coaching LD debate, Ben is also a Master’s student in Education and Arizona State University where he studies the social and philosophical foundations of education.

Richard Glover, Policy and LD lab leader

Richard is an NFL Diamond Coach with 15 years’ experience. In that time he has seen great success both as a competitor, and a coach. Richard has coached numerous Arizona State Champions, NFL National Qualifiers, and teams in out rounds at the Tournament of Champions. Richard is the founder of Stand Up and Speak, a consulting firm dedicated to helping people improve their skills as public speakers. He offers tips, tricks, and advice on public speaking on the Stand Up and Speak blog.  He is the type who reads philosophy for the fun of it, and he has a broad knowledge and understanding of what it takes to win rounds. He is currently the debate coach for the five-time State Champion McClintock High School Chargers.

Kevin Berlat, Congress lab leader

Kevin Berlat is the founder and director of the Arizona Nationals Congress Boot Camp, which has taken Arizona Student Congress to a new level. In the 8 years of the boot camp, it has produced 23 NFL National Congress Semifinalists, and 7 National Finalists, making Arizona one of the top Congress districts in the country. Kevin has served as parliamentarian and scorer at the NFL Nationals, the Harvard National Congress, and other national level tournaments, and worked in the tab room at 2011 NFL Nationals. Kevin competed for Salpointe Catholic High School, where he was the 1992 Arizona State Southwest Championship winner in Dramatic Interpretation. At Arizona State University, Kevin was an 11-time tournament champion and was the first competitor in ASU history to qualify 6 events to a single AFA Nationals through legs. In addition, he was a finalist in Persuasive Speaking at the 1996 International Forensic Association Championships in Athens, Greece. As a coach, Kevin restarted the team at Marcos de Niza High School, and then joined his current Central High School squad. He has coached 10 Arizona State Champions and 25 NFL qualifiers, and coached Central to a 2004 Schwann School of Excellence in Debate award, the only time an Arizona school has earned this distinction. Kevin currently serves as the President of the Forensic League of Arizona, as the Chair of the Arizona Interscholastic Association State Speech and Debate Advisory Committee, and as the Section Seven Representative to the National Federation of High Schools Speech, Debate, and Theater Committee. Additionally, he has been asked by the National Federation of High Schools to present about Student Congress to their meeting of State Speech and Debate Directors. He is an NFL Diamond Coach and is married to fellow SWSDI faculty member Kimberly Bayan-Berlat.

Kim Berlat, Extemp lab leader

Kimberly Bayan-Berlat has been a coach with the Central Speech & Debate program since 1996.  She is considered a top IE judge and teaches judging, Impromptu, and Extemp workshops at the annual Forensics League of AZ Convention.  Kimberly began her competitive career at Mt. Miguel High School in Spring Valley, CA finding success in platforms and interp.  That success gave her the opportunity to join the nationally recognized Palomar Community College Forensics Team, where she regularly beat university-level competitors.  This included her future husband, Kevin Berlat, in a few head-to-head Extemp battles.  At the Phi Rho Pi Nationals in 1995, Kimberly earned Bronze Awards in Impromptu, Drama, Communication Analysis, and Interpreters Theatre.  She capped off the tournament as a National Champion in Extemporaneous Speaking. In 1996, she decided to try her hand as an NDT debater.  Her semester stint ended with a 1st place team win and 3rd place speaker award at the Biola Invitational. As a coach, she feels one has to know the balance between enjoying forensics and succeeding in it is based in good fundamentals, hard work, and a few well-placed sarcastic jokes.

Andy Stone, Interp lab leader

Andy competed for Desert Vista High School and Arizona State University, and has been a coach at Desert Vista and several summer institutes. He is a two-time high school state champion and a seven-time national finalist in college. As a coach, he believes that the use of critical questions and discussion can provoke learning that includes both the final product and the process that guides students to the solution, to make sure that students truly understand concepts.

Lexi Tippings, Interp lab leader

Lexi Tippings had a wide range of events in high school, but the one she enjoyed most and had the most success in was Original Oratory. She competed for three years both on the California state level, and the national level, with success ranging from 2nd place at the California State Championships, 2008 Berkeley Invitational Tournament Champion, and 4th place at the NFL National Championships. She is a member of the ASU speech team and took 3rd place at the 2011 AFA Nationals in informative speaking. She loves helping the next generation of Orators to find ways to connect with people and inspire others to change their lives for the better. She has been a coach for three years now and coached multiple tournament champions and state finalists and champions. She looks forward to seeing you at camp!

Susan Seep, LD lab leader

Susan Seep is the debate coach at Horizon High School in Scottsdale.  She is highly regarded as a judge and coach, and emphasizes the pedagogical and education aspects of debate.  She had a successful career as a debater herself, even clearing to outrounds at the prestigious NDT in college policy debate.

Nicolette Kratochvil, PFD lab leader

Nicolette Kratochvil competed in many events over her three-year high school career, but Public Forum Debate and Extemporaneous Speaking were her first loves. As a junior, she qualified to NFL Nationals in Public Forum and Domestic Extemp, and with her PFD partner, she advanced to be one of 27 teams remaining in the competition. As a senior, she enjoyed a successful career in limited prep events, including winning impromptu at Arizona State and qualifying to NFL Nationals in congress and Domestic Extemp. Nicolette’s coaching years have focused on Extemp, Oratory, and PFD, producing an ASU finalist, Harvard semi-finalist, Arizona state finalist, and National Qualifier in Oratory; an ASU finalist in Extemporaneous Speaking; and an ASU finalist and two National Qualifiers in PFD. During her brief hiatus from coaching, she finished her B.A. in communications from Arizona State University.

Justin Bever, PFD lab leader

Justin debated for McClintock High School.  He and his partner were one of the most successful PFD teams in Arizona, qualifying to Nationals and earning numerous bids to the Tournament of Champions.

Yassamin Ansari, PFD lab leader

Yassamin is a freshman at Stanford University and a member of the Stanford Parliamentary Debate Team. She debated at Chaparral High School from 2007-2010 where she also served as President of the team. She was the Public Forum Debate state champion in 2009, and qualified to NFL Nationals and the Tournament of Champions. She and her partner were one of the most successful teams in the state. They won several local tournaments, consistently broke to out rounds on the national level, and placed in the Top 30 at the Harvard Invitational three years in a row. Yassamin is currently a debate coach at Summit High School in California.

Eric Dern, Interp lab leader

Eric competed for eight years on both high school and collegiate levels. As a senior at Shadow Mountain High School, he was a State Champion and received 3rd Place in Expository at the 2008 NFL Nationals. While competing with Arizona State University, he received 2nd in the nation at the 2009 AFA-NIET in both Duo Interpretation and Informative Speaking, as well as breaking to many national out-rounds in other events. Most recently he has been working as an assistant coach at Desert Vista High School, where he helped lead the team to consecutive State Championships (with many individual champions) as well as multiple National School of Excellence Awards.

Geoff Gadek, LD lab leader

Geoffrey Gadek is a graduate of Arizona State with a degree in Political Science. He competed in Lincoln-Douglas for 3 years in high school and has been the LD coach at Mountain View for 5 years.

…Plus more to be announced!