Teachers Faculty and Staff
2024 Staff List
Maritza Maldonado
Hello, I am Maritza Maldonado and I am a senior at Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School. My favorite classes are mock trial and debate for which I have a deep passion for.These classes and my outstanding teachers have allowed me to develop my love for advocating for marginalized communities by building my public speaking skills. In college I hope to join the mock trial team and other organizations in order to be part of my campus community. After college, I plan on attending law school and becoming an immigration lawyer.
Katelyn Moss
Katelyn Moss is an upcoming freshman at Washington University in St. Louis, in which she plans to double major in Political Science and Philosophy. Katelyn has debated in Policy during her 6th grade year, World Schools in her 10th - 12th year, and dabbled in Lincoln Douglas during her senior year. She plans to coach and judge debate during college! Katelyn enjoys volunteering at the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance as a summer camp counselor and a frequent judge, as well as playing Call of Duty in her free time!
Andy Werner
I teach philosophy to college and high school students. For this coming year, I will be teaching at the University of Houston and Houston Community College; I also teach philosophy to high school students through my non-profit Adventures in Thinking.
I have taught at TDC since its founding, and I have taught at the Teacher's Institute for the past 6 years.
Kris Wright
Kris Wright has been coaching debate for over thirteen years. He is the Director of Debate for Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School in Dallas. He is also a co-founder of TDC. As a high school debate coach, Kris’s students have been successful nationally and locally in Dallas on one of the toughest circuits in the country. Prior to coaching at Irma Rangel, Kris had exclusively coached LD, working for Marcus, Westlake, Southlake, University School, and Law Magnet. His students achieved success on the local and national levels. In the span of six years, his LDers reached semis or better of TFA state five times, including the 2009 TFA State Champion and Top Speaker. He qualified many students to the TOC & NSDA Nationals and to reach elimination rounds—including a semifinalist at the TOC and top-11 finishes at NSDA Nationals.