Paul L. Gaba - Head Coach

"Debate" was not offered at Bloomfield Hills Lahser High School when Paul Gaba was growing up in suburban Detroit. However, "Radio Broadcasting" was, and Gaba spent 2 1/2 years as a disc jockey and newscaster at WBFH-FM while in school.

After graduating from Lahser, Gaba split his time between Central Michigan University and Wayne State University, ultimately receiving his Bachelor of Applied Arts in Broadcast & Cinematic Arts from Central Michigan in 1988. But while Gaba had a Broadcasting degree, he joined the world of journalism, spending the next few years as a reporter/photographer for various Michigan newspapers.

In 1994, he was offered the opportunity to free-lance for several papers, including The Detroit News, for which he spent nearly three years covering suburban Detroit politics. During his free-lance days, Gaba was hired as assistant manager of WBFH, and in 1997 he entered the Wayne State graduate school to obtain his secondary education teaching certificate. He received his certification in 1999, and earned his Master of Arts in Teaching in Secondary Education in 2001, with a double major in English and Speech and a minor in Journalism.

Gaba was Debate Coach at South Fork High School in Stuart, Florida, for two years before assuming the same role at Wellington in August 2002. He was elected to the National Forensic League's Panther District Committee in May 2003, and served on the committee from 2003-08 and 2009-present. Gaba was the recipient of the 2003 National Debate Coaches Association Barton Scholarship, which helped defray the costs of traveling to and attending the University of Kentucky National Debate Institute's Lincoln Douglas Coaches Program.

In his role as the Florida Forensic League's Macaw Region director from 2004-08, Gaba acted as a member of the Florida Council of Presidents, representing coaches in Palm Beach County in coordinating a statewide debate calendar, creating a standardized judge training manual, and developing a curriculum guide that can be used by novice debate coaches. Gaba, who was elected Florida Forensic League Vice President/Webmaster in 2009, was also a member of the FFL Policy Debate Task Force in 2003-04. He was honored as the FFL Macaw Region's "Coach of the Year" for 2004-05, and became the 281st debate coach in NFL history ever to earn the NFL's Distinguished Service Key. Gaba is a member of the Lincoln-Douglas Education Project, an organization of coaches who believe LD should retain its values-based heritage, of the National Debate Coaches Association, and the National Federation of State High School Associations.

In 2007-08, Gaba began serving as Vice President of Individual Events for the Palm Beach Catholic Forensic League, and in his capacity on the PBCFL executive board has been responsible for setting up and running the Joy of Tournaments software and computer program.

Fawn Tenenbaum - Assistant Coach

Fawn Tenenbaumm was the debate coach at Palm Beach Lakes High School for 16 years before leaving in 2008. Currently a teacher at Crestwood Middle School, Fawn joined Wellington Debate in 2009 when her daughter, Eve, came to Wellington as a freshman.

Dottie Checa Chong - Assistant Coach

Dottie Checa Chong is a well-known name when it comes to Palm Beach County debate. During the 2003-04 school year, she was the volunteer head coach at Spanish River High School, and while at Spanish River she had students advance to both the CFL and NFL national tournaments. She was also named the Florida Forensic League's Region IV (Macaw Region) "Coach of the Year" by her peers.
Prior to Spanish River, Dottie and her husband, Jesus, were involved with the debate program at American Heritage in Delray Beach. In fact, their two daughters, Jana and Joy, both graduated from American Heritage, and both were debaters with the program - Jana was a top-flight Congress student (and is currently attending George Washington University), and Joy was an interper (who is now at Northwestern University).

Tabitha Armstrong - Assistant Coach

By the time she graduated from Wellington, Tabitha Armstrong had established herself as one of the top dramatic performers in the nation. No small feat, given that she was essentially forced into taking debate as a freshman by a guidance counselor.
Tabi focused on the interpretive areas of debate during her time at Wellington, earning 843 NFL points along the way. She advanced to "break" rounds at tournaments such as the Florida Blue Key, Ft. Lauderdale "Flying L," Wake Forest "Earlybird," and NFL Qualifiers. She advanced past preliminary rounds in both Poetry & Prose and Dramatic Performance at the 2004 Barkley Forum at Emory University,culminating in a fifth-place finish in DP. She was the program's first-ever Operations Manager in 2003-04, and was Wellington Debate's 2004 Pathfinder Award nominee.

Caitlyn Gross - Assistant Coach

Caitlyn started her debate career as a junior at Wellington, quickly grasping onto Lincoln Douglas Debate. She advanced to the double-octofinal round of Novice LD at the 2004 Florida Blue Key and mixed LD at the 2005 Pine Crest "Crestian" tournaments. While at Wellington, Caitlyn was also involved in the Student Government Association, Respect, and the Photo Club, and played volleyball and lacrosse. Caitlyn graduated from WHS in 2006 and is currently a student at Palm Beach Community College double majoring in political science and communications, with a minor in women's studies. She is also currently working with the Republican National Committee on raising funds for the 2008 primary and presidential elections, and worked on Charlie Crist's gubernatorial campaign.

Eilleen Dempsey and Dale McCall - Assistant Coach and Coach Emeritus

Barbara Dale McCall - dubbed "The Queen of Lincoln Douglas Debate" by the National Forensic League - retired in 2000 after a 32-year-long tenure of coaching debate in Palm Beach County. She earned more than 16,000 NFL points, and was honored as a Sixth Diamond Coach on June 30, 2000.

During her time at both Twin Lakes High School and Wellington High School, Dale was named a "Key Coach" of the Barkley Forum at Emory University, elected to the NFL Hall of Fame, and was the major figure in the implementation of Lincoln Douglas Debate, including codifying the original set of LD rules and practices.

Dale served as the NFL's South Florida District chair, helped create the NFL Manitee District (where she served as chair), and spearheaded the drive to create the NFL Orange Blossom (now Panther) District, of which Palm Beach debate programs are currently members. In addition, as a staunch advocate of academic freedom in the classroom, Dale was named winner of Florida's Intellectual Freedom Award.

As coach at Twin Lakes, Dale coached National Boys Extemp Champion Barry Mann, who finished 4th two years earlier, as well as Jeannette Kuvin, runner-up in Oratory. In all, 51 qualifiers represented Twin Lakes at NFL Nationals, many placing in late rounds of Lincoln Douglas, Policy Debate, Oratory, and Extemp.

The Twin Lakes chapter was one of Florida's best at a time when Florida was a single NFL district and one of the most competitive states in the nation. Dale's Twin Lakes chapter won two Leading Chapter Awards, the District Plaque, and two District Trophies. Dale coached Florida's Student Points Leader five different years. In 1986, Twin Lakes was second in the U.S. in enrollment of new degrees.

Dale's greatest strength was working with parents, who formed a Booster Club, raised money, and judged.

After coming to Wellington in 1988, Dale achieved similar success, qualifying 13 students to eight nationals, including late-round competitors in Lincoln Douglas and Policy Debate. Under McCall, Wellington twice was the district's largest chapter, and won the district trophy.

Dale coached at the Georgetown, American and Iowa summer institutes, and was a most popular teacher. She coached nationally ranked debate teams and extempers early in her career, and then almost singlehandedly invented Lincoln Douglas Debate in the early 1980s. Since retiring, Dale has served as treasurer of the Palm Beach Catholic Forensic League, and has assisted in workshops for students and new coaches.

Special thanks to the National Forensic League for supplying biographical information for Dale McCall.