Elodie Tinajero, Asst. Coach

Elodie Tinajero, Jr. (she/they) is the Asst. Coach for Informative, Original Oratory, and Interpretive Events. Elodie is a writer and speech and debate coach located in Peoria, IL. She has eleven years of competitive experience in speech and debate, as well as nine years of coaching experience.

In her time competing, she was one of the top 60 Duo Interpretations (DUO) in the nation and received 2nd place in Poetry at NSDA. At Orange Coast College, she made history as being part of the first community college team to win State and Nationals four years in a row. She was a CA state champion in DUO and Poetry, as well as a Bronze medalist in Program Oral Interpretation (POI) and Poetry, in addition to being a Silver medalist in DUO and Reader’s Theatre.

In attending Western Kentucky University, she was a state champion in DUO, as well as top 24 in the nation in After Dinner Speaking and DUO at the NFA and AFA tournaments. As a coach, she has supported hundreds of students in their speech and debate journeys from elementary through collegiate levels of competition, and helped dozens of students reach national final rounds in Poetry, Informative Speaking (INFO), Original Oratory (OO), Dramatic Interpretation (DI), Humorous Interpretation (HI), Prose, Declamation (DEC), POI, Storytelling (STO), and DUO. She has also supported national champions in OO, INFO, DEC, Poetry, and POI.

Her work aims to empower students and make their voices heard because it is through this activity that we find our leaders of tomorrow.