Berkeley High School Speech and Debate
Coaches
Joel Jacobs (Head Coach). Joel is an environmental lawyer, former debater, and former BHSD parent. For the last four years, he was the head coach at El Cerrito High School, where his students were the most recent California State Champions in Parliamentary Debate, and finished the 2019-20 year ranked seventh in the United States. He is serving a third term as the Director of the National Parliamentary Debate League Tournament of Champions, and is the Director of Parliamentary Debate for the Golden Gate Speech Association, our local league.
Vidushee Mishra (Assistant Coach). Vidushee is a first-year student at the University of California, Berkeley. She attended Irvington High School, Where she was President of the team, and qualified for both the Tournament of Champions (three times) and the California State Championships.
Uma Nagarajan-Swenson (Assistant Coach). Uma (BHS '18) is a Junior at Scripps College. She was co-president of BHSD for two years, and broke to elimination rounds at many tournaments, including semifinals of the Stanford Invitational. She finished in the top 13 at the State Championships. Uma was on the staff of the Stanford National Forensic Institute in the summer of 2019.
Anna Tokarzewski (Assistant Coach). Anna is also a first-year student at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Lowell High School, she was the Varsity Captain, JV Captain, and Treasurer of her team. She was a quarterfinalist at the California State Championships.
Talia Wolf-Jacobs (Assistant Coach). Talia (BHS '18) was co-president of BHSD for two years, and is currently a Junior at UCLA. As a high school debater, she was ranked in the top 15 nationally. She was on the staff of the Stanford National Forensic Institute in the summer of 2019.
