Coaches
These are the adults that coach and advise the team.
Lisa Honeyman
Teamwide CoachLisa Honeyman, along with her husband, Jim Honeyman, founded the Newton South Speech & Debate Team in the fall of 1997. She was also a mathematics teacher who taught at Newton South for 34 years, before retiring in 2021. When she is not coaching, Mrs. Honeyman enjoys reading, walking, gardening and doing crossword puzzles (although, not at the same time).
Mrs. Honeyman uses she/her pronouns. |
Sarah Culpepper
Teamwide Head CoachCulpepper is a math teacher with degrees in math, English, music theory, and education. In college, Culpepper competed in parliamentary debate, Model UN, and Mock Trial. Other interests include hiking, football, and the two cuddliest cats in the world.
Culpepper uses he/him, they/them, and she/her pronouns. |
Josh Cohen
Debate CoachJosh Cohen debated in high school and has coached the Newton South debate team since 2010, when his own children joined the team. He is also a health economist on the faculty at Tufts Medical Center. Josh is a big Star Trek fan. Between debate seasons, he likes to go hiking, especially in the Adirondacks in upstate New York.
Josh uses he/him pronouns. |
Marcel Lachenmann
Teamwide Coach
Marcel Lachenmann participated in debate and speech in high school. He briefly coached Lincoln-Douglas debate at Calvert Hall College HS in Towson, MD while he was in college and has coached the Newton South speech & debate team since 2020. Marcel also works in software as an applications and lab automation scientist. In his free time, you can often find Marcel reading, hiking, or cooking.
Marcel uses he/him pronouns. |
Debate Leadership
Pearl Berzin
Novice CaptainOutside of debate, Pearl is passionate about social justice and gender equality. She co-runs the Girl Up club and is on the Senior Leadership Team for her temple’s youth program. She loves the outdoors, hanging out with friends, skiing, sleep away camp, and her puppy.
Pearl uses she/her pronouns. |
Saakshi Challa
Varsity CaptainOutside of debate, Saakshi is passionate about computational neurology and public health! She’s co-president of SASA and founder of the gender minorities in technology club. In her free time, she loves reading a good memoir, watching early 2000s romcoms, and singing Indian classical music!
Saakshi uses she/her pronouns. |
Kassra Ehsan
Novice CaptainKassra is interested in exploring the worlds of medicine and public health, and how physicians and policy-makers can work together to save lives and increase the efficacy of our nation's healthcare delivery. In his free time, Kassra tutors math for Khan Academy, enjoys playing golf on crisp fall mornings, jazz improv on the piano, and hiking.
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Natalie JonesNovice Captain
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Wasan Rafat
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Lily Smith
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Aris Li
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Janani Ganesh
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Speech Leadership
Alyssa Feinberg
Team CaptainOutside of speech, Alyssa is passionate about computer science and language. She runs the Technovation Club and co-runs the Spanish Volunteer Club. She also enjoys singing, reading, and traveling.
Alyssa prefers she/her pronouns. |
Preethika Vemula
Team CaptainPreethika enjoys studying ancient languages and performing Indian classical dance. When she's not coaching students on the speech team, Preethika is roughing up her little brother or crocheting.
Preethika uses she/her pronouns. |
Ahona Dam
Interp CaptainAhona loves to create art and experiment with different materials and colors. She has a shop on Etsy where she sells handmade cards to raise money for an organization: Partners in Health. Ahona also likes to write poetry and is passionate about women's health.
Ahona uses she/her pronouns. |
Matan Josephy
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Rose Plottel
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Andrea Tang
Platform CaptainAndrea loves spending time in nature with her family, friends, and dog Daisy! Outside of speech, Andrea enjoys playing table tennis, making art, learning about new advances in STEM fields, and exploring the beautiful Boston cityscape.
Andrea uses she/her pronouns. |
Melinda Yung
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Noa Racin
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Emma Zhang
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