What is Cogito Debate?
OUR EDUCATORS
OUR COACHES
ALEX KIM
Director of Administration
alexk@cogitodebate.com
Alex Kim is a coach and the Director of Administration of Cogito Debate. Ms. Kim teaches the introductory and intermediate levels of Parliamentary Debate, and specializes in Impromptu Speaking. She is currently attending Irvine Valley College to continue her education on top of managing Cogito Debate. Ms. Kim has been coaching classes for Cogito for 3 years and has served as the Director of Administration for over a year now. She enjoys and loves working with students and making all sorts of speech and debate classes possible for everyone!
KRISTINA RIETVELD
Director of Debate
Kristina Rietveld is the Director of Debate of Cogito Debate and has been coaching our competitive club teams for years. Mrs. Rietveld holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies with a Minor in Public Relations from Cal State University Long Beach and a DRPA Mediation Certification, and is currently pursuing her Masters Degree at Cal State University Fullerton. Mrs. Rietveld started competing in speech and debate at the college level when she was 16 and fell in love with it immediately. She has won numerous awards competing at the state and national level in American Parliamentary Debate, British Parliamentary Debate, and International Public Debate (IPDA) as well as in Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu Speaking and Informative Speaking. As one of the founding coaches of Cogito, she is excited to see the program grow!
FORREST FULGENZI
Forrest Fulgenzi holds Bachelor Degrees in both Neuroscience and Economics from Pitzer College and has over eight years of coaching and direct debate experience, having won awards competing at both local and national levels of debate. He specializes in Policy Debate and Lincoln Douglas Debate and has a passion for research and education. Mr. Fulgenzi enjoys working with students and teaching them the importance of research as well as debate theory and strategy.
MIRANDA SWARTWOOD
Ms. Swartwood is currently attending University of California San Diego. She has a broad range of experience in competitive debate and public speaking as well as in coaching the youth. Ms. Swartwood’s expertise is in parliamentary and policy debate as well as in extemporaneous speech, expository speech, and humorous interpretation.
CONRAD CELESTINO
Conrad Celestino is currently attending Orange Coast College and is on track to obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. Mr. Celestino has been teaching classes at Cogito Debate since Spring 2021 and has been actively coaching during the summer and will continue in the fall. Aside from teaching speech and debate, Mr. Celestino has extensive experience teaching other extracurriculars, such as music theory, music production, and volleyball.
ALISON WILHELM
Alison Wilhelm holds a Bachelor's Degree in Education with a minor in Literary Journalism. Ms. Wilhelm has begun teaching with Cogito Debate this past spring and has been actively involved with many of our public speaking classes. Ms. Wilhelm believes that speech and debate skills are important and useful in life as they help students improve the way they communicate with one another.
HARUT KEJEJYAN
Harut Kejejyan holds an Associates of Arts degree in Communication Studies from Fullerton College, and is about to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and Sociology with a minor in Political Science. Mr. Kejejyan has 4 years of teaching experience at various speech and debate institutions in Southern California. He specializes in Policy Debate and Lincoln Douglas, with 6 years of Policy Debate experience.
FIONA TRUONG
Fiona Truong is a current student at UC Irvine majoring in Criminology, Law, and Society with a minor in Asian American studies. Ms. Truong has several years of public speaking experience in Speech and Debate and other extracurricular activities. She has competed at the state and national levels in Original Oratory and Congressional Debate. In addition, Ms. Truong has had experience in teaching students through youth educational programs.
BRETT BOELKENS
Brett Boelkens is a junior civil engineering student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and is the Director of Research and Publishing at Kankee Briefs. Throughout his time in a collegiate and high school debate, he has competed for 4+ years, with a focus on Lincoln-Douglas and Policy Debate. In his free time, Mr. Boelkens takes care of his three birds, two turtles, and his cat named Zombie. He believes that competitive debate helps foster public speaking skills, as well as the ability to research and think critically about arguments and evidence.
RAY SMITH
Ray Smith has been teaching Public Speaking, Spanish, and Drama since 2005, and was a high school speech and debate coach from 2011-2018. In his high school years, Mr. Smith competed in Policy Debate and Poetry/Prose. Mr. Smith believes that behind every Greta Thunberg and David Hogg and X Gonzalez there was a teacher who told them that their voice was more powerful than any armament.
ABY FLORES
Aby Flores completed her Bachelor's Degree in Biology and Neuroscience at the University of Florida, and is currently working towards her Doctorate Degree in Neuroscience at the University of California, Irvine. Ms. Flores has been with Cogito Debate since 2019, teaching public speaking courses and working on our Intramural Tournaments. Ms. Flores believes that being able to communicate effectively and confidently enriches all avenues of life, from personal to professional.
OUR ADMIN
KARINA MICHAELS
Community Provider / Coach Coordinator
karinam@cogitodebate.com
SHIRLEY CHA
Admissions Coordinator
shirleyc@cogitodebate.com
"Join the Team!" hiring
Main Office: (949) 503-9592
info@cogitodebate.com
THE COGITO PROMISE
Improve Students Communication Skills
Engage Students in Critical Thinking
Encourage Students to Consider Different Perspectives
Enable Students to Confidently Express Themselves
Connect Students Intellectually
Prepare Students for Personal and Educational Success
COGITO NEWS
CLASS IN ACTION
BUILDING CONFIDENCE THROUGH SPEECH AND DEBATE
Self-confidence can be taught! At Cogito Debate we believe that by practicing the skills of speech and Debate students become more proficient which leads to self-confidence.