Co-Directors
Chris Palmer is an assistant coach at Newton South High School, where he primarily focuses on extemp and debate. In his twelve years as a coach at Newton South and Milton Academy, he has coached extempers who have advanced to the final rounds of NFLs, CFLs, and also coached champions of the Montgomery Bell Round Robin, Yale, Glenbrooks, Harvard, Villiger, Columbia, and other tournaments.
He also has coached students competing in LD, Oratory, Interp, and Congress. He is the president of the Massachusetts Forensic League, and serves as the tab director for the Yale, UPenn, and Columbia invitational tournaments. He has written speech tournament management and online registration software at http://www.tabroom.com. This software is used in MA, NY, NJ, FL and VA, and also at NCFL Nationals.
In his life outside forensics, Chris works as an IT Manager for Gene Network Sciences, a biotechnology firm specializing in computer drug simulations and research. He has a degree in psychology from Harvard University.
Jonathan Chavez has worked with a number of top-tier programs across the country, including James Logan High School in California, Creekview High School in Texas, and Milton Academy in Massachusetts, coaching a number of students to national final rounds in both address and interp events.
He is an expert in both nationalism and domestic policy and politics, with particular expertise in polling, elections and social issues. In his life outside of forensics, Jonathan is the Director of Research at a political consulting firm based in Cambridge, MA. Jonathan holds a degree in Social Studies from Harvard University.
2008 Faculty
Akshay Rao is a rising sophomore at the University of California, Berkeley, where he intends to double major in Economics and Business Administration. This will be Akshay’s second year as an EXL faculty member. As a competitor for Leland High School in San Jose, California, Akshay won numerous tournaments in Extemp, including the Berkeley and Stanford Invitationals, the California State championship, and NCFL Nationals. Akshay attended NFL Nationals three times in Foreign Extemp, placing fifth as a senior, 11th as a junior, and 8th as a sophomore. Akshay currently helps coach at his alma mater, Leland HS.
Akshay is working as a fixed income analyst at Banc Investment Group in San Francisco for the summer of 2008. His career interests include securities trading, venture capital, and risk management.
Brian Daner joins EXL for the first time in 2008. Brian is the extemp coach at Leland High School in San Jose, California. In high school he competed in Extemp, LD Debate, and Student Congress, and was the Runner-up in the Senate at NFL Nationals. Brian is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where he competed in parliamentary debate for four years and served as the Director of Forensics. Over the past three years at Leland, Brian has coached two California State Champions in Extemp and Impromptu, two NCFL National Champions in Extemp, an NFL National finalist in Extemp, an NFL National finalist in Impromptu, and a NFL National Champion in Impromptu. Brian will be starting law school at the University of Virginia this fall.
Ian Panchevre also joins the EXL faculty this year for the first time. He is a graduating senior from Tom C Clark High School in San Antonio, Texas. Throughout his career he has won several national tournaments in Extemp which include The University of Texas, St. Marks, and the Glenbrooks. He competed at MBA and most recently was a finalist at the Extemp TOC. Ian will be attending Yale University where he plans on majoring in Ethics, Politics, and Economics as well as International Studies.
