Break with Bronx Signups for 2023 are Live!

Who We Are

Our Story

Break with Bronx was founded in 2021 by Angelena Bougiamas and Thomas Bakos as they recognized a need for comprehensive congressional debate instruction and resources to be available without any financial barriers. They ran a summer program that included live topic lectures, office hours, drills and practice rounds and uploaded all materials to their website. They extended their services throughout the 2021-22 school year, compiling resources from Bronx Science debate practices and offering office hours.

Angelena is now a college sophomore studying Political Economy and is continuously grateful for the critical thinking, argumentative and public speaking skills her time debating offered her. She now works with members of the Bronx Science Congressional Debate team to continue Break with Bronx and maintain the relevance of published materials.

Meet the Founders!

Angelena and Thomas are recent graduates of the Bronx High School of Science and are pursuing their Bachelor's Degrees at Georgetown University and Northwestern University, respectively. Angelena served as captain and novice director and Thomas served as novice director for the Congressional Debate Team, working together to coach and run practices for one of the largest and highest-ranked teams in the country. Thirty percent of their novices qualified to the NY State Championship, and together they've amassed 10+ bids to the Tournament of Champions. They've also made 20+ appearances in local, regional and national tournaments. Angelena and Thomas have loved their experience organizing and coaching for Break with Bronx and are so excited to help the program grow alongside future members of Bronx Science's debate leadership.

Break with Bronx Leadership

Summer 2022

Co-Chairs: Angelena Bougiamas and Zubayer Mahbub

Directors: Zubayer Mahbub, Rahm Rodkey and Samantha Chklovskii

Summer 2021

Directors: Angelena Bougiamas and Thomas Bakos

Assistant Directors: Andrea Li and Florence Shen

Guest Instructors (Summer 2021-2022)

Maya Levkovitz

Florence Shen

Andrea Li

Arjun Mazumdar

Joey Rubas

Olivia Pasquerella

Ojasvi Saxena

Sungjoo Yoon

Nicholas Raffinengo

Ethan Wilkes

Practice Lecture Contributors (2021-2022)

Bronx Science Congressional Debate Leadership 2021-22

Captains: Angelena Bougiamas and Ellington Fagan

Novice Directors: Samantha Chklovskii, Zubayer Mahbub and Thomas Bakos

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