2023-2024 Dennis Martinez

Dennis poses with College Park's Agbor and Oniylofor after the JV Finals of the New York Fall Face-off

Dennis is the second WUDL Alumni to be named Volunteer of the Year. 

Chosen by a vote of our students (and heartily supported by our staff), Dennis has contributed in a wide range of ways this year. First, he’s the first volunteer to coach two(!) schools in the same season, College Park Academy, and Columbia Heights. Both teams have succeeded, with Columbia Heights’ small but mighty team advancing to JV in their first year back, and College Park’s team tripled in size and experiencing substantial success in Varsity and at Regional Tournaments. Dennis has supported his team and others at several Travel Team competitions, served as a lab leader for many of our Middle School National Qualifiers this past summer at the Matthew Harris Ornstein Summer Debate Institute, and is now running our Debate En Espanol preparations. 

As a debater, Dennis was the captain at Northwestern High School, where he was an accomplished debater at the local and regional level. A gifted researcher, he represented the WUDL at the Urban Debate National Tournament during the pandemic, where he was the 4th overall seed, and 5th place individual speaker. He pioneered our Debate En Espanol program, winning the Harvard Tournament’s Debate En Espanol division his senior year. After graduation, he attends the University of Maryland, where he studies Economics.