Noemie Durand is a high school senior at BASIS DC, a charter school in Washington, D.C. They hope to study psychology in college and pursue a career in clinical and research psychology, possibly internationally. Currently, their work in mental health includes an internship and research project at Child Trends, a child psychology research organization, and a job with the Young Women’s Project in D.C., teaching their peers about mental and sexual health. They also founded a nonprofit, Carna, meant to provide teens with easy access to mental wellness resources and information.  

Noemie enjoys all types of writing, particularly creative writing and research articles, and they are also passionate about exploring important global topics, which often come up through debate. They’ve debated for four years total on many different subjects, such as racial justice and water resources. They made it to NAUDL’s Urban Debate National Championship tournament in 2022, in which they finished as a quarterfinalist. Noemie also participated in NAUDL’s I RESOLVE public debate showcase in October 2022.

Haven Howard is a varsity regional debater for the Washington Urban Debate League. He’s been involved in debate since middle school and was honored as the Keoni Scott-Reid Debater of the Year in WUDL, an award that recognizes the top debater in our nation’s capital, as evaluated through participation and competitive success over the course of the 2022-23 school year. He’s a fast learner who is currently a junior at Phelps ACE High School. In addition to debate, Haven is involved in a number of extracurricular activities, including cross-country and the Mikva Challenge, which invites youth to take part in real-life democratic activities as part of a mission to increase civic and political participation among young people. He plans to major in aeronautical engineering and aspires to be an astronaut.

Alliton Flores Sanchez is a junior at York International School. She was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and moved to the United States when she was 3 years old. Alliton always goes above and beyond what is required at school, enjoys taking on leadership roles in her activities (such as JROTC) and cares about helping her community. She signed up to debate during her sophomore year, mainly because it was challenging. Alliton sees debate as public speaking and advocacy training, which she believes will be useful in her aspirations to become a lawyer. One of the things she most appreciates about debate is the knowledge that she gains at the end of each tournament. Alliton loves sharing her passion with the people that surround her—she is focused on bringing positivity and enthusiasm to everything she does. She is always interested in learning about new topics to better understand the world.

Isabella Long is a sophomore at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Early College. She has been competitively debating for two years and is currently a varsity debater with the Denver Urban Debate League. A background in theater and a love of history have allowed her to have a unique experience as a debater, because debate combines the art of public speaking (including emoting and enunciation) with the need to think critically about history (including which stories are told and who writes them). They strongly believe in the value of education—a belief which has only been heightened by participating in debate. She will continue to advocate for the importance of debate in education whenever possible, because even though it’s a difficult activity, it is an extraordinary opportunity no one should pass up.

Marianny Torres-Collado is part of the Denver Urban Debate League and really enjoys public speaking. She is 16 and a sophomore at Denver West High School. While her family is from the Dominican Republic, Marianny was born in New York, raised in Miami and has lived in Denver for the past three years. She has been involved with DUDL since her freshman year and plans to participate in debate through graduation and beyond. Marianny intends to major in biology and afterward attend dental school. One of her biggest dreams is to offer affordable dental care all over the Dominican Republic to provide for her people. She describes herself as someone you can lean on whether you're a stranger or her closest friend—Marianny will be there for you.

Ruby Trejo Ontiveros is a junior at York International School. She’s originally from Florida but lived in Chihuahua, Mexico, until she was 12 years old. She moved to Denver in 2018, where she entered school in the U.S. and began to learn English. Ruby is currently fluent in both English and Spanish. This is her first year in debate. Debate has already taught Ruby many things, like how to be more confident and how to explain her ideas and thoughts more clearly. Outside of school, her hobbies are spending time with her family, which is very important to her, and photography. She particularly likes to photograph the sky, flowers and animals. Most importantly, she wants to continue to make her parents proud and grow as a person and debater. She is looking forward to debating in Spanish because she thinks it will be a fun and worthwhile challenge.

Erick Zaragoza is currently a senior at Andrew P. Hill High School. He has been a part of the Silicon Valley Urban Debate League since 2020 and has served as the Debate Club president for two years consecutively. Erick is currently involved with the SVUDL-wide student leadership group and is the student representative to the SVUDL board’s program advisory council. In collaboration with NAUDL, Erick has participated in the national public debate showcase, I RESOLVE, for two years in a row. Outside of debate, Erick’s interests lie in playing baseball, conducting research in the field of aerospace and playing the saxophone. He has a strong interest in space system design and will continue his studies at Princeton University to pursue a Bachelor of Science in both mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Fabiola Diaz Lopez is a junior attending Downtown College Preparatory El Primero High School who has been an active member of her school's Speech and Debate Team for the past three years. Starting with speech in 2020 and moving on to debate the following year, she has since progressed to the varsity level and has taken on a leadership role by mentoring new club members. She now leads practices with the debate novices and continues to compete in the school's debate league, SVUDL, in which she has achieved success on a national level.

Through her involvement with SVUDL and as a featured participant in the 2022 I RESOLVE national public debate series, Fabiola has developed a keen understanding of current events and a desire to be part of shaping the future. With aspirations of becoming a first-generation college student, Fabiola is passionate about her community and dedicated to making a positive impact through her participation in debates and future endeavors.