NOTICE: ALL OMSSDL ACTIVITIES WILL BE CONDUCTED VIRTUALLY DUE TO COVID-19.
About Us
Our Philosophy
We believe in developing the future generation of our community's leaders through providing speech and debate opportunities for EVERY student, which is why all of our resources, tournaments, and workshops are FREE.
Tournaments
We host speech and debate tournaments that are open to middle school students from around Oregon @ LOJ
We do not provide transportation or overnight options, but financial support can be arranged if needed.
Workshops
We provide workshops for all students, and especially for those whose schools don't have debate programs so they get the opportunity to explore speech and debate.
Clubs
We help middle schools start up speech and debate clubs. If you have any questions about this, feel free to email us!
Board of Directors
President - William Guo
William Guo is a senior at Lincoln High School. He believes that clear and effective communication skills are necessary for students interested in all fields, particularly STEM related ones where said skills can be neglected. William has done Lincoln Douglas debate for 4 years is an Oregon state semifinalist. He also loves playing the piano and running in the morning.
Lauren Zhang
Lauren Zhang is a junior at Lake Oswego Senior High School. She’s been doing Speech and Debate since 8th grade, when she walked into the club, determined to learn how to argue like a lawyer, and walked out in love with the activity itself. Now, she hopes that middle schoolers will find the same belonging and community in competitive Speech and Debate that she has. Outside of Speech and Debate, she is a violinist and origami enthusiast.
Nora Wu
Nora Wu is a junior at Lincoln High School. She participated in debate tournaments throughout middle school. At Lincoln, she has been actively participating in speech and debate for two years. She is also a member of her school’s We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution team. Nora is passionate about teaching upper elementary and middle school students speech and debate.
Alex Aghdaei
Alex is currently a junior at Lake Oswego High School. He started out as a middle school student, participating in numerous OMSSDL tournaments, but quickly became more involved with the organization.
Officers
Kevin Seog
Kevin Seog is a Junior at Sunset High School. He enjoys attending various different competitions and conventions which involve speaking skills, such as DECA, HOSA, and Model United Nations. He believes speaking and debating skills will benefit students greatly in the future regarding a variety of different aspects, such as in college and job interviews. Additionally, Kevin enjoys a variety of sports and is involved in multiple activities where he teaches and tutors other students in science and math.
Advisors
Aletia Cochran
Mrs. Cochran is a humanities teacher and speech and debate coach at Lake Oswego Junior High School. She has been actively involved with OMSSDL since its inception, and is an integral part in organizing the numerous state-wide tournaments.
Brent Hamilton
Mr. Hamilton is a lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. He has been a great contributor to OMSSDL, assisting in the planning of workshops as well as providing numerous donations through the years.