Dallas Urban Debate Alliance - July News












 


Students at the Dallas Urban Debate residential summer camp

July 2014

Your support provides debate to nearly 40 Dallas ISD middle schools and high schools and almost 1,000 students. In my four years as executive director, I have been blessed to see the first hand impact of your support. Our debaters are graduating from high school on time, getting recruited for college debate (and offered scholarships!), and gaining the necessary career skills to truly become better students and create a better Dallas.

I am so excited to hand the reigns of the program you built to our dynamic and talented new Executive Director, Adam Powell. As Dallas Urban Debate prepares to expand into the Imagine 2020 schools, drawing on his experience as a former higher education advisor at James Madison, Adam will create tailored programming that caters to the needs of all of our schools. As the former COO at Education is Freedom, he will be able to spread the word of your good work locally and nationally. Adam brings the skills and experience to make Dallas Urban Debate a premier program that produces better students and a better Dallas.


2014 Summer Residential Camp a huge success!





Thanks to the support of the Orix Foundation, the Dallas Bar Foundation, and Carrington Coleman, more than 60 Dallas ISD students participated in a free week-long debate camp at the Univ. of North Texas. Our expert teaching included award winning Dallas Urban Debate coaches Mike Gee (Sunset), Leslie Nfodjo (Medrano), and Mary Gregg (SEM).



Students learned skills from and are now being recruited by our nationally recognized staff of college debate recruiters. Gabe Murillo, head debate coach and Director of Recruiting for Oklahoma University, said that "I am very grateful I had the opportunity to work with so many gifted students . . . I look forward to helping these students get into the colleges of their choice and specifically recruiting them for the University of Oklahoma." Jessica Brown, the assistant director of admissions at UNT, also made a special recruiting pitch. Thank you to all of our sponsors for making this opportunity possible!

Dallas Urban Debate Welcomes Adam Powell!



The Dallas Urban Debate Alliance welcomes Adam Powell as its new Executive Director. With over ten years of experience in education, Adam brings a broad array of skills including fundraising, evaluation, marketing, and program design and implementation. Previously, Adam served as the Chief Operating Officer, as well as the Director of Strategic Planning for Education is Freedom (EIF). In these roles, Adam worked closely with Dallas ISD Administrators to implement program enhancements, as well as facilitate college and career readiness processes. Prior to these roles, Adam also spent substantial time working directly with high school and college students in various locations across the South.

Additionally, for three years, Adam served as the Program Manager for Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings' Intern Fellows Program. Adam was instrumental in helping to redesign the intern program, making it one of the largest most comprehensive high school intern programs in the country. This redesign lead to the rapid growth of the Intern Program, serving 59 students and 38 companies in 2011 to over 230 students and 150 companies in 2013. Adam holds a Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Jackson State University and a Master's Degree from the University of Texas at Arlington. Adam is currently completing a PhD in Sociology with a concentration in higher education.

In my final newsletter, I am so happy to direct you to this national article tauting the benefits of debate for students. Amity Shlaes, a Dallas Urban Debate supporter, shared her experience with debate at the joint event of the Bush Presidential Center and Dallas Urban Debate. She writes that, "My own conclusion is simple. Debate is the best kind of charity, worthy of all support, whether from presidents or regular dads. Fund it, watch it, judge it, give your kids to it: debate is America's forgotten sport." Because of you and your support, debate is not a forgotten sport, but instead thriving in the Dallas ISD. Thank you for the opportunity to work with such an amazing program.

Sincerely,

Nicole Wanzer-Serrano
Executive Director
Dallas Urban Debate

Stay Connected


Dallas Urban Debate Alliance | | nicole@dallasurbandebate.org | http://www.dallasurbandebate.org
PO Box 670564
Dallas, TX 75367









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