I’ve been involved in competitive debate for the past 7 years. I started at Taylor Road Middle School’s debate club, organized by Chattahoochee High School, where I later continued debating. In high school, I was the first team in four years to qualify for the high school policy Tournament of Champions, qualifying twice. I received speaker awards at tournaments such as Harvard, Marist, Isidore Newman, and more.
In my first year as a coach, I have guided local schools like John’s Creek High School and Alpharetta High School to multiple bid rounds, including four bids to the policy TOC, and coached students to eliminations at tournaments such as Westminster, UGA, Bingham, and more. I began judging national competitive debates as a sophomore for the Chicago Urban Debate League and later judged within Georgia’s competitive circuit and the national circuit, covering local public forum debate to policy rounds at the high school Tournament of Champions.
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I have been involved in various styles of debate for over 15 years. My experience started with policy debate at Chattahoochee High School, where I won the state championship twice and reached out rounds at multiple national tournaments. After that, I debated at Georgia State University and started working with the Atlanta Urban Debate League. Post-graduation from UGA, I began working with Ivy Bridge Academy and have been there for over 9 years now. During that time, we have grown IBA into a nationally competitive program. Over the past few years, my students have championed MS and HS Harvard, Georgetown, TOC, and NSDA nationals – along with numerous top speaker awards.
In addition, my experience at GSU and UGA included:
Casey Kang serves as the director of our IBA Marietta Center.
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I am the Director Assistant for the Johns Creek Campus as well as an IBA Tutor for Math and English ES/MS. I have been teaching since graduating high school in 2017. Currently I am also a student at the University of North Georgia, majoring in digital arts and animation, and minoring in the Japanese language. I enjoy working with and challenging students to a higher standard of learning.
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Susan Rhee is the founder of Ivy Bridge Academy, and currently serves as the IBA Johns Creek Center Director.
Mr. Brian Choi teaches Math and Debate at the IBA Suwanee/Cumming Center.
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Contact Info: ibaafterschool@gmail.com
Ms. Eman Sayani is a rising sophomore at Boston University where she is working towards a B.A. in Neuroscience. She graduated from Alpharetta High School in 2020 where she was involved with swim & dive, and as the President of both National Honor Society and Raider Ambassadors. Eman looks forward to working with students this summer to ensure that they are prepared to excel in this upcoming school year.
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Ms. Christine Baek is in Brown University’s Class of 2025 interested in pursuing English and Literary Arts.
My writing is published/forthcoming in Blue Marble Review, elementia, and Polyphony Lit, among others, and has been recognized by The New York Times and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. In high school, I also served as Editor for Curieux Academic Journal and Northview’s national award-winning literary magazine The Muse.
I received my BA from Florida Atlantic University and my Masters in Curriculum: Reading from Grand Canyon University. I have 20 years’ experience teaching students ranging from gifted to special education, 3rd to 12th grade. While I am certified to teach all major subjects, my focus is English/Language Arts. I am retired from Fulton County Georgia, but I’ve not stopped teaching. I’ve been at Ivy Bridge Academy for the past 5 years. For me, there is nothing more satisfying than helping students achieve success in academics.
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Graduate of University of North Carolina, Greensboro, with many years of experience teaching English Language Arts, book clubs and ESL.
I am the Codng Instructor for Ivy Bridge Academy’s John’s Creek location. I’m currently majoring in Computer Science at the University of North Georgia and will be graduating in 2023. I’ve been teaching Python Java, Scratch, JavaScript and more since 2016. I look to inspire students to take an active interest in Computer Science and Information Technology beyond just passing a class and hope to give them a new creative outlet that will greatly benefit them in life.
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Dr. Thinh is currently a math professor at the collegiate level.
Programing language and Skills:
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For over ten years, Mr. Eric Lang has taught high school English, SAT reading and writing, and essay writing.
I received my PhD in Mathematics from Drexel University in 2012. Since 2000, I have been teaching varieties of Math courses including Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, II, Geometry, Precalculus, AP Calculus AB, BC, SAT level 1, level 2, and ACT at 6-12 grade level. I have also been teaching college Math courses including Calculus sequence, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Matrix Analysis. I am also an expert in Python and Machine learning. I have had a deep connection with my struggling students in Math and I put extra time to try to personalize the content for them. My students have responded my efforts by getting perfect scores both in school exams and in standardized tests.
I am a debate coach for the IBA Marietta Campus and I have been involved in debate for about 6 years, competing and getting top places at tournaments including qualifying for NSDA nationals. Now I am a student at Georgia State University focusing on Philosphy and Education; additionally I am a Director for the GSU Debate Team. I have coached students to win tournaments at Alabama State, and Princeton and students to qualify for NSDA nationals.
Jada Ford received her B.A. in English at Louisiana Christian University. She is scheduled to graduate in the winter of 2023 with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. She is an adjunct professor at Point University and a debate coach at the Ivy Bridge Marietta Campus.
I have been involved in debate for about 6 years, competing and earning top placements at tournaments including qualifying for and placing at NSDA Nationals. I am currently a student at the University of Georgia focusing on Education and History, and I am a founding member of UGA’s Ethics Bowl Team. I have coached students to place and win at a variety of tournaments, from Georgia State Championships to NSDA Nationals.
Ms. Siobhan Connolly is a graduate of UGA (Communication & Public Speaking)
Dr. Hester is renowned in the debating community for his achievements in coaching the very best debaters in the nation.
With more than a quarter-century of experience in higher education, including faculty positions held at prestigious institutions such as Cal-Berkeley, Emory, and the University of Michigan, Dr. Hester has advised and mentored hundreds of students. High school students he has worked with have gained admission into prestigious universities across the nation, including Georgetown, Harvard, and Stanford; additionally, the students at UWG with whom he has counseled have gained not only admission, but also full scholarship offers, into top 10 engineering schools, law schools, and medical schools, including Berkeley, University of Chicago, and UPenn.
Dr. Hester is intimately familiar with the college admissions process and knows how to share his wisdom with students to maximize their chances of gaining admission into the schools of their choice.
