COACHES

Michael Harris

    Michael has coached debate for the last twelve seasons and has been the debate coach at Lynbrook High School since 2015. As a high school competitor, Michael earned thirteen total bids to the TOC, won the 2013 Berkeley Invitational, and made it to TOC quarterfinals.His students have also placed highly at many nationally ranked tournaments, including the 2017 Berkeley Invitational and the 2024 Glenbrooks Invitational where they took first place. Over thirty of Michael’s students have qualified for the Tournament of Champions (TOC), one of the most prestigious national championship tournaments in the country. He has coached one TOC finalist and two TOC semifinalists.

He has extensive experience coaching both Lincoln Douglas and Public Forum debate.

MISTER OGATA

    Mister Ogata is the Speech Coach at Lynbrook High School since 2002. In the 2024/2025 competitive season, two students went to the Tournament of Champions (TOC); one went to the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions (NIETOC); and one went to the California State Championship.

  Mister Ogata's preparatory background includes a Masters of Arts (MA) in Speech-Communications and an MA in Theatre Arts. He is experienced in a variety of speech- and performance-related pursuits. Among them:

Professional workshop

He penned his “Listen, Speak, Play” workshop. Through it, thousands of adults are equipped to affectively portray their better selves in their professional and personal worlds. 

Improvisational (improv) theatre

He is pro-actively involved in improv and musical improv theatre. He was a co-founding member of the “Jesters of Yes” and “The Peninsulators”; was a member of Blue Blanket Improv and several improv ensembles. 

He performed at notable improv festivals: West Coast Musical Improv Festival and the Femprovisor Festival. Additionally, he was a featured performer in the original “Mixed Tape” musical improv structure.

Film

He directed “Good, Bad, and Ugly,” an independent short film, which was broadcast on Comcast Cable Local and showcased at the Asian/Pacific American Film Festival (APFF). Simultaneously, at the same APFF, he was the lead actor in the short film, “The Secret Life.”

Acting 

In addition to acting in film, he has “tread the boards” in on-stage roles. Among them, Snoopy in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and Henry Albertson, the Shakespearean actor, in “The Fantasticks.”

He had further roles in “Scapino,” “Hotel Paradiso,” “Barefoot in the Park,” and “Cheaper by the Dozen.”

He performed off-off Broadway in New York at the Theater for the New City.