Meet Our Instructors

Core Team

Paul Rose

Founder

Nina Rose

Director of Operations

Charles Boles

Director of Development

Trenton Cressy

Director of Recruiting & Personnel Management

Bay Area, CA

Sophie Cheung

Marc DeJager

Mercedes Tamayo

Jack McKinnon

Boston, MA

Christina Monaco

Carter Stewart

Yash Shetty

Isaac Jirak

 

As Co-founder and CEO, Paul heads teacher training and development at Rose Institute.

Paul is a two-time national debate champion. He holds national accolades in competitive Drama, Impromptu, and Platform Speaking.

In his free time, Paul enjoys singing, baseball, and classic cars.

Nina Rose has a passion for teaching and communications. She qualified for the Stoa Nationals in all four years of debate in high school, ranking 2nd place in the nation for Team Policy Debate. She has won numerous tournaments in both Team Policy and Parliamentary Debate in both Stoa and the California High School Speech Association. Nina has more than eight years of teaching experience, coaching with Rose Debate for four years, as well as tutoring piano.

Nina studied English at UCLA and graduated Summa Cum Laude in June 2020. In her spare time, Nina enjoys reading, hiking, and camping.
Charles Boles is the Director of Development and an experienced instructor at Rose Institute, where he has taught hundreds of students in the Bay Area, Boston, and online for the past four years. His confident and charismatic personality makes him a perfect fit for teaching public speaking. Charles developed and utilized his public speaking skills in high school as a finalist in Poetry Out Loud, student government and leadership roles, and master of ceremonies at school events. He was also an avid thespian (Shakespeare) and musical theatre enthusiast, performing in several leading roles.

In his spare time, Charles likes to play basketball, follow Los Angeles sports teams, and play with his nieces and nephews.

Trenton began his teaching career working at a learning center in high school. While completing his English Literature degree at UCLA, he taught at the university’s Undergraduate Writing Center and coached high school students in speech and debate. He also competed on UCLA’s collegiate debate and mock trial teams and taught at the prestigious UCLA Mock Trial Institute. After graduating, he taught history, science, and language arts full-time to 3rd through 6th grade students at Live Oak Academy, a private school in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Trenton continued teaching speech and debate and wrote a curriculum for public speaking courses offered to middle school and high school students throughout California. He coordinated and ran speech and debate tournaments and summer camps in addition to training other public speaking teachers.  He co-founded MC Speech to continue this public speaking instruction in Southern California. In 2023, he joined Rose Institute as Director of Recruiting and Personnel to develop future educators, as well as cultivating his passion for teaching in his role as Master Instructor.

Sophie Cheung, an undergraduate business student at Santa Clara University, excelled in speech and debate throughout middle and high school. As head captain of her school’s team, she competed in over 7 events in 5 years, showcasing particular talent in limited preparation events. Sophie ranked among California’s top 5 impromptu speakers, after having double-qualified for the state competition in impromptu and extemporaneous speaking. In addition, she serves as president of her school’s investment fund, where she teaches members how to pitch stocks for real investment opportunities. Sophie’s hobbies include rollerblading, art collecting, and playing with her pets.

Marc DeJager competed in national speech and debate competitions for five years, winning several national awards for both speech and debate. Some of his greatest competition accomplishments include placing 6th in Duo Interpretation at the Stoa National Tournament of Champions and 12th in Monologue. He has coached speech and debate for six years. Marc’s day job is as a Digital Accounts Manager, where he manages media campaigns for non-profit clients across the country. In his spare time, Mr. DeJager enjoys skiing, surfing, climbing, and anything outdoors. 

Mercedes Tamayo is a graduate of San Jose State University with degrees in Political Science and Philosophy as well as experience in her school’s bioethics debate team. Mercedes’ background in cheerleading has taught her the importance of confidence and presence in front of a crowd. Mercedes’ students have won several accolades at Rose Debate tournaments, including 1st place in Impromptu and 1st place team in Panel Debate at the Spring 2023 tournament. In her spare time Mercedes enjoys reading, movies, and learning music.

 

Jack McKinnon is a graduate student at Stanford studying Philosophy and Classics. Jack has been involved in public speaking since his toddler days, being a child actor for various commercial companies. He also has had an extensive background in speech and debate through his high school league, of which he was the captain during his senior year. While at Stanford, he serves as president of Veritas@Stanford and as chairman of a parliamentary debate society. In his spare time, Jack enjoys playing golf and powerlifting.

Christina Monaco is a graduate from Vanderbilt University with an individually designed degree in Creative Arts Production. Through years of experience as a theatrical performer, improv comedian, and production manager for film and theater, Christina has gained an acute understanding of the confidence, organization, intuition, and presence required to be an engaging public speaker and strong businessperson. She is a charismatic and creative instructor who has taught with Rose Debate for three years, helping students gain confidence and try new things in an encouraging space. In her free time, Christina enjoys painting, filmmaking, weightlifting, and photography. 
Carter Stewart is a student at Harvard University studying Classics and Statistics. He competed in the National Circuit in Public Forum Debate and Extemporaneous Speaking and was president of his high school speech and debate team. He has been working for Rose Debate since his senior year in high school and loved every minute. In his spare time, Carter enjoys reading, weightlifting, and playing club lacrosse.

Yash Shetty, an undergraduate student at Boston University, debated for four years in high school. In his senior year, he finished as a California State Finalist and became the first Public Forum entry in his school to earn a bid to the Tournament of Champions. Yash earned a total of five TOC bids, setting the record for his school, and he and his partner were the first team from his school to champion a national tournament. In his spare time, Yash enjoys playing the guitar, tennis, and spending time outdoors.
Isaac Jirak is an undergraduate at Harvard University studying Mechanical Engineering, with hopes of continuing to graduate design school. Coming from a rural high school, Isaac was heavily involved in student leadership and speech competitions despite limited opportunities in debate. He has presented at national competitions and, in 2021, placed 1st in the Kansas State Discussion Meet. He has had plenty of practice in the classroom, devoting two summers to working with kids through structured classes and prepared speeches.

In his spare time, Isaac enjoys reading philosophy, finding new coffee shops, and doing anything outdoors.

We’ve had 1000s of Happy Students

"Anthony enjoys the class and likes the teachers. He was happy every time after the class.
He reads to me every week day and has tried to remember speeches assigned to him. ... Thanks a lot!"

– Lingling Sun

"Rose Debate's class was really fun and engaging. I learned a lot as a public speaker, and the tournament was REALLY well organized and enjoyable."

– Isabelle Shi

"Rose Institute helps our students fine tune their public speaking skills and
students are eager to attend and return each year."

– Fabienne Esparza, Principal, St. Catherine School