Helen Liang

Ascend California - Congressional Debate Junior Instructor

Helen is a senior at Naperville Central High School and captain of Central's debate team. She's been debating since 8th grade and has seen many achievements at both the state and national level, including being the 2023 Illinois State Champion, placing 2nd at the New York City Invitational, 6th at the Harvard Round Robin, and finaling prestigious tournaments like Harvard and the Tournament of Champions. As a captain, she coached her team to success, including a 4th place finish in Illinois State and multiple 1st and 2nd place awards for novice debaters at tournaments. As a coach, Helen values helping debaters become unique on the debate stage, bringing out their natural personality and allowing them to have fun while they compete. She focuses on simple argumentation, clear warranting, and unique framework. She's excited to help debaters at Ascend understand how to frame their speeches in an engaging way, adapt speech structures, and most importantly, enjoy their experience with Congress. When she isn't debating, Helen loves to watch movies, listen to music, and read sci-fi novels.