M-A Speech and Debate

About Us

Coach

Brier Buchalter

Brier is the coach. Sometimes he coaches debate and buys interesting T-shirts.

Captains

Celine Chien

Celine is a senior and in her fourth year of debate at Menlo-Atherton. Some of her favorite topics to research and debate are ones surrounding climate policy and environmental justice. When not at practice, she writes and edits at the M-A Chronicle, cooks, and spends time with her family.

Allegra Hoddie

Allegra is a senior and joined the debate team in her sophomore year. She helps out as a reluctant webmaster and soon-to-be-fired events coordinator. Allegra loves getting to know the community, eating french fries after in-person tournaments, and counterplans. Outside of debate, she enjoys going to concerts and writing.

Matilda Kratz

Matilda is a senior and she started debating in her freshman year. She loves value rounds and meeting new people at tournaments. Beyond debate, Matilda spends her time reading, doing ceramics, and watching a lot of Netflix.

Varsha Sripadham

Varsha is a senior in her third year of debate. She loves arguing about corporations, climate change, and against MLM–but her favorite part of debate is the people. When she's not arguing, you can find Varsha hiking and being a positivity queen.