E’shandae Thomas

Class of 2018, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

E’shandae Thomas graduated from Ramsay High School. She was involved in Girl’s Empowerment, JROTC, Concert Choir, Mu Alpha Theta and National Honor Societies, and Lads to Leaders. She is proud of her opportunity to compete in NSDA Nationals representing the Deep South District in public forum debate, and also to attend the Harvard Debate Workshop in Boston during the Summer of 2017. E’shandae hopes to attend Spelman College in Atlanta, Howard University in Washington, D.C, or the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.


Dasia Primus

Class of 2018, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Dasia Primus graduated from Ramsay High School and its International Baccalaureate Program. She plans on being a medical examiner in the field of forensic science. Dasia was an active member of her school’s theatre department. During middle school, she was active on the Phillip’s Academy Junior United Nations Assembly team and debated in the SpeakFirst Middle School Debate League. Dasia enjoys reading and volunteering in her free time. Dasia also enjoys swimming, playing volleyball and tennis, and watching crime shows on the Investigation Channel.


Christopher Pilgrom

Class of 2018, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Christopher Pilgrom graduated from Ramsay High School. Christopher enjoys watching current events on the news and likes to debate them in his spare time. He considers a number of figures to be his idol, such as Thurgood Marshall and Eric Holder. He wants to go to law school after completing his undergraduate study. Christopher hopes to study political science and biomedicine.


Caitlyn Jones

Class of 2018, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Caitlyn Jones graduated from Ramsay High School. She plans to study political science and international relations. Caitlyn served as a volunteer at the McWane Science Center throughout her sophomore and junior year and now is as a volunteer coordinator. While competing in debate for Phillips Academy, she placed second out of all of Birmingham middle school debaters. Outside of debate, she spends her time reading and studying for school. She enjoys tennis, singing and learning how to play the piano, violin and guitar.


Christion Finch

Class of 2018, Pelham High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Christion Finch graduated from Pelham High School. He enjoys listening to classical music and immersing himself in the writings of Shakespeare. Christion likes to stay on top of current events happening in the world. His favorite part of debate is crossfire because it requires him to think on his feet. He would like to attend an Ivy League school and study law and psychology. His life long goal is to be the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.


 

Jordyn Cannon

Class of 2018, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Jordyn Cannon graduated from Ramsay High School and was a three year member of the SpeakFirst High School team. Jordyn debated for Huffman Middle School in the SpeakFirst Middle School Debate League. In her spare time, Jordyn enjoys reading mystery novels and watching scary movies.


Brooklin Ballard

Class of 2018, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Brooklin Ballard is a graduate of Ramsay High School and was a member of the SpeakFirst High School team for four years. Brooklin debated for the SpeakFirst Middle School Debate League and was awarded a $250 scholarship for placing second in the end-of-year tournament. Her junior year Brooklin earned the highest win-loss record in program history by winning 67% of her rounds. She aspires to study education law.


Kimora Bell

Class of 2017, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Kimora Bell is a graduate of Ramsay High School where she served as the SGA President her senior year.In the future, Kimora is attending the University of Alabama to study political science and education policy. Being the fourth child of six means that she is always motivated to do her best.  Kimora’s favorite part of debate is case writing because she enjoys putting ideas together to make the most persuasive argument possible.


Delanya Storey

Class of 2017, Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School, Birmingham, Alabama

Delanya Storey is graduate of Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School. Delanya is attending Harvard University this fall. She plans to major in international studies and pursue her life goal to work at the UN. Aside from debate, she was a part of the Beta Club, Future Problem Solvers, Model UN, the Birmingham AIDS Outreach Youth Advisory Council, and the Addiction Prevention Coalition Youth Advisory Council. In addition to serving with the Vice-President of the National Honor Society, Delanya was part of the History, English, Science, and Spanish Honor Societies at her school. In her spare time, Delanya enjoys art, specifically renaissance, impressionist, and surrealist art pieces. For entertainment, she also enjoys Star Trek: The Next Generation and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


Alondria McNair

Class of 2016, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Alondria McNair is a diligent, outstanding young lady with the world at her feet. She is currently attending the University of Alabama to pursue medicine and business. Alondria plans on using her collegiate degrees to become a prolific cardiologist, who owns her own practice. Aside from her career aspirations, she plans to pursue humanitarian work through the United Nations. In her spare time, Alondria volunteers in her local Birmingham community. Alondria is a beautiful, generous and kind human being who has begun and will further make a giant impact on the world.


Omario King

Class of 2016, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Omario King is an alum of Ramsay High School and was a Class Representative in Ramsay’s Student Government Association for two years. Omario is currently attending the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and he plans to double major in Mass Communications and Business. Upon completion of his studies at UA, he would like to return to Birmingham and attend Cumberland School of Law since he also possesses a passion for law. The source of Omario’s inspiration is his parents. They push him everyday to strive for the best. Outside of debate, Omario enjoys singing and cooking with his grandmother.  His life goal is to become a Public Relations Specialist or a Prosecution Attorney.


Jemarcus Pullins

Class of 2016, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Jemarcus Pullins is an alumnus of Ramsay High School. Jemarcus is a music lover and spends his off time downloading and listening to music. He is an avid basketball fan. His favorite team is the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he is most specifically a Lebron James fan. Jemarcus is known for his sense of humor and brings excitement and laughter to the SpeakFirst team. He served as one of the SpeakFirst captains for his senior year. Jemarcus is currently pursing his undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Jemarcus wants to major in marketing and become a marketing manager of an NBA team.


Maia_Abdulahad-new

Maia Norris

Class of 2015, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Maia Norris graduated from Ramsay International Baccalaureate High School in May 2015. She now attends the University of Alabama with a major in public relations and minor in international business. Maia is extremely excited about going to college but she’s not excited about being separated from her twin brother, Omar. Maia enjoys shopping and watching movies in her spare time.


Brittany_Grady-new

Brittany Grady

Class of 2015, Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School, Birmingham, Alabama

Brittany Grady graduated from Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School in May 2015 and was the captain of the SpeakFirst High School team. She now attends the University of Alabama, where she studies international relations and competes on the speech team. Her favorite part of debate is crossfire, because it is the least scripted portion of debate. In Brittany’s spare time, she enjoys watching Netflix and going to the movie theatre. She one day plans to become active in politics and hopes to be able to represent the United States in diplomatic negotiations.


Chelsea_Caldwell-new

Chelsea Caldwell

Class of 2015, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Chelsea Caldwell graduated from Ramsay High School in May 2015, where she was part of the Ramsay High School choir and enjoyed singing, drawing, and spending time with her church community.  Chelsea now studies business and pre-law at the University of Alabama.  Her life goal is to open a law practice, and operate a fashion boutique on the side.


Arrix_Ryce-new

Arrix Ryce

2013-14 SpeakFirst Team Co-Captain
Class of 2014, Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School, Birmingham, Alabama

Arrix Ryce is a 2014 graduate of the Jefferson County IB School and is currently a junior at the University of Miami. Since entering college Arrix has served as an Undergraduate Research Fellow in both the Department of Biology, where he studies community resource theory, metabolism, and evolutionary genetics using Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s yeast), and the Department of Religious Studies, where he studies the relationship of religion, cognitive science, and gene-culture coevolution and is helping develop the evolution unit of a new interdisciplinary undergraduate course called Why Do We Believe? He has also served as the Chairman for a university-wide initiative where he collaborated with university faculty, administrators, and professionals to design intervention strategies that minimize financial obstacles to educational enrichment. Arrix’s extracurricular activities include the Undergraduate Honor Council, IMPACT Leadership Retreat, Black Awareness Month, and the InspireU Mentoring Program.

After his sophomore year, Arrix completed a research internship at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the following summer completed a research internship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In the fall of 2016, he studied abroad in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. Following graduation from college, Arrix plans to enroll in medical school.


Breanna_Wright-new

Breanna Wright

Class of 2014, Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School, Birmingham, Alabama

Breanna Wright is a 2014 graduate of the Jefferson County IB School and is currently a junior at the University of Alabama. Breanna aspires to be a pediatrician and is preparing for the rigorous medical school application process. She has shadowed pediatricians over summers, as well as worked in the office of a family care physician. Her current GPA is 3.15, and she has also taken on summer coursework with the goal of graduating early. She has also been looking at possible research opportunities to complete before she graduates. Breanna was involved as a Project Health Intern, a part of the Student Health Center’s Department of Health Promotion and Wellness. It covers a wide array of health topics and Breanna’s role was to help inform students on campus about different issues concerning health and wellness.


Kimya_Loder-new

Kimya Loder

Class of 2014, Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School, Birmingham, Alabama

Kimya Loder is a 2014 graduate of the Jefferson County IB School. Kimya is currently a junior at Spelman College in Atlanta. She is one of twenty Bonner Scholars at Spelman. The Bonner Scholarship is a service scholarship sponsored by the Bonner Foundation that encourages servant leadership and civic engagement.

Kimya is now head delegate of the Spelman College Model United Nations Team which travelled to the Harvard World Model United Nations conference last year held in Rome, Italy.  She was designated as one of five UNCF Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows from Spelman College, which is a program designed to increase diversity in the faculty ranks of institutions of higher learning by encouraging undergraduate students to pursue PhDs.  This summer, Kimya will be participating in the Mellon Summer Institute held at Emory University where she will develop a prospectus which will be the basis of her research for the next two years at her home institution. Finally, during the fall 2016 semester, Kimya studied abroad in Tunisia through the School for International Training, Emerging Identities in North Africa program where she examined the dynamics between modernity and tradition, Islam and constitutional democracy, technology and youth culture, and social and political transition in Tunisia.


Myah_Morton-new

Myah Morton

2013-14 SpeakFirst Team Co-Captain
Class of 2014, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Myah Morton graduated from Ramsay High School in 2014. Due to her maturity and remarkable growth, she served as a Team Co-Captain during her senior year. Myah is currently a junior in the Honors College at UAB. Since the summer before her first semester at UAB, Myah has participated in rigorous summer programming, maintaining a constant presence on her institution’s campus. She has also acted as a resident advisor the summer after her freshman year and continues to do so, serving as a leader for other resident advisors.  Myah is on the University Programs Board, which is a student program council that works with the Office of Student Involvement to organize events on campus like film series, socials, and field days. She also serves on the Leadership and Service Council. This council is comprised of student leaders who are responsible for planning, organizing, and coordinating service and volunteer opportunities for the UAB community.


Morgan_Smith-new

Morgan Smith

Class of 2013, Shades Valley High School, Birmingham, Alabama

A 2013 graduate from Shades Valley High school, Morgan Smith was a four year member of the SpeakFirst team, serving as Co-Captain for two years. Morgan earned a total of $134,000 in scholarship. She is attending University of Alabama at Birmingham. Morgan’s passion for research, a skill she considers one of the most valuable aspects of debate, will help her perform well in all her interests – a list that includes veterinary medicine, foreign policy, and singing and performing. One of Morgan’s favorite memories from SpeakFirst is traveling to New Orleans for a tournament and eating beignets from the famous Café du Monde.


Damon_King-new

Damon King

Class of 2013, Holy Family Cristo Rey High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Damon King graduated class of 2013 Holy Family Cristo Rey High School after spending three years on the SpeakFirst team. Senior year he earned a total of $75,000. At the University of Alabama, Damon is pursuing his love for history, which, like debate, enables him to see social and political topics from differing perspectives. If he could meet any historical figure, Damon would enjoy having a conversation with Martin Luther King, Jr. and discussing with him perseverance through adversity, a quality Damon finds particularly prominent in in a man like Martin Luther King, Jr. When Damon is not studying or contemplating the challenges of adversity, he uses his free time expanding his interest in fashion and hanging out with friends.

Damon’s 2012-13 Tournament Highlights:
Damon King and his partner Breanna Wright finished as Semifinalists at the Raymond B. Furlong Invitational at St. James School and Finalists at the Over the Mountain Classic.
Damon King won the Third speaker award at the Over the Mountain Classic.


Maya_Hoyt-new

Maya Hoyt

Class of 2013, Ramsay High School, Birmingham, Alabama

Maya Hoyt graduated from Ramsay High School in 2013. Maya participated in SpeakFirst for all four years, and in her senior year, she was offered $10,400 in scholarship. She attends Spelman College where she continues to pursue her interests in history and singing in choir. After Spelman, she hopes to continue to law school.

 2012-13 Tournament Highlight

Myah Hoyt and her partner Morgan Smith finished as Quarterfinalists at the Betty Gunn Invitational at Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham.


Mingo_Allen-new

Mingo Allen

Class of 2013, Holy Family Cristo Rey High School, Birmingham, Alabama

After spending three years on the SpeakFirst team, Mingo Allen graduated Holy Family Cristo Rey High School class of 2013 and was awarded a total of $510,900 in scholarship. Now, Mingo Allen attends Alabama State University where he continues to pursue his passion for English. He hopes to one day use his talents to be an author or an entrepreneur. If he could meet any current political figure, Mingo would like to meet President Barack Obama, whom he considers a source of personal inspiration. Mingo noted, “President Obama teaches me to allow no barrier to keep me from achieving my goal.”

2012-2013 Tournament Highlights:

Mingo Allen and his partner Morgan Smith finished as Quarterfinalists at the Raymond B. Furlong Invitational at St. James School and Octafinalists at the Isidore Newman Tournament.
Mingo Allen was a Finalist at the Over the Mountain Classic, where he was awarded Third in Extemporaneous speaking. He was also a Finalists at the Alabama State Tournament, placing Third in Extemporaneous speaking.