IFL EXECUTIVE BOARD VOTING

There are four open seats on the IFL Executive Board this year. Five coaches have self-nominated to fill them. Below, find the list of coaches along with their nomination messages. Once you have reviewed these messages and considered, you can click the link to vote.

ONLY head coaches, or their designates, may vote. Each school receives only one vote. 

Here is the link to voting:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/G83T5Y8

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS 2020

Jeremy Fitzpatrick, Johnston HS

My name is Jeremy Fitzpatrick and would like your support to continue to be on the IFL executive committee. I have been the debate coach at Johnston for 5 years now and before that at Winterset. I am currently West Iowa’s district chair. I believe I can continue to bring a unique perspective of having coached in a smaller school as well as a larger one. I understand the challenges that both types of schools have in order to run a successful program. Please vote for me for one of the spots on the committee.

Jesse Meyer, Iowa City - West HS

My name is Jesse Meyer, assistant debate coach at Iowa City West, and I am running for reelection for the IFL Executive Committee. Besides my work for Iowa City West, I write briefs for the NSDA and DebateUS! and am an instructor for the Global Academic Commons. 

Over the last 8 years, I have been able to turn my passion and love into my career. From dawn until late at night, I focus on debate education and how to make forensics better for all students in Iowa. I believe that speech and debate is the best activity to train the next generation of involved citizens..I also believe that all students have the ability to speak, but need the opportunity to do so. I often tab tournaments for fun and sport without pay, write questions for extemp and spontaneous for tournaments, and provide debate materials to programs that are in need. 

If reelected, I want to focus on expanding debate to more middle schools in Iowa as hooking the students earlier means they are more likely to stick with it in high school. I also want to support local Iowa tournaments. I remember the days when locals had 50+ pf team fields and thriving LD divisions. We can return to these days, we just need to provide resources and support for new programs and existing programs that need it.

Warren Sprouse, Cedar Rapids - Washington HS

As a long-time coach in Iowa and an involved tournament host, judge, and facilitator, I feel like I have a good sense of the needs of speech and debate programs in Iowa from the inside-out, and I look forward to the continued opportunity to put that experience to work on the IHSFL executive committee. Having a coach of that committee who has coached in Iowa for many years and who has a specifically policy debate focus, I feel, is an important aspect of my committee work in service to Iowa debate. I would welcome the opportunity to continue that service with your support.  

Kirk Kelloway, CAM HS

To whom it concerns:

I would like to be considered for a position on the IFL Executive Committee. I’m a retired stockbroker who moved back to my hometown in Iowa with my 14 year old son 6 years ago.  I first got involved in speech 4 years ago as a volunteer at my old high school, CAM HS. Two years ago I was asked if I would be interested in helping to start up a debate program at CAM HS.  For the past two years I’ve worked as a Speech and Debate Coach. Our school had a very strong tradition of debate from the 1960’s through 1990’s. But when our debate coach, John Burke passed away the debate program fell away over time. CAM is wanting to rebuild that tradition! 

With the help of our Coaches Manda Thomas and Jody Rudolph we’ve been able to field a debate and student congress program of 16 students. We had 68 students participate in Large Group Speech, 49 that went on to State this year. We will have 40 students (63 entries) going to District Individual Speech on Feb 29th. For a small high school with an enrollment of 150 students we feel we’re off to a good start.

I have a very strong passion to promote speech and debate in Iowa. Because of my high school debate coach John Burke, I was able to go on to become a State Champion debater in 1974. John Burke forever changed my life. At this stage of my life I would like to give back a little of what I experienced through speech and debate.

This year I’ve been working with four small high schools in western Iowa helping them to start up a debate program. Two of those schools competed in debate this year and two others will begin next year.  I am hoping that we can continue to build more debate programs in small schools throughout Iowa.

Thank you for considering me.

Kirk Kelloway

CAM High School

Speech and Debate Coach

Maggie Rietz, Davenport - West HS

I’m nominating myself for a position on the Executive Committee. I have been the coach at Davenport West for 12 years and 3 years in California before that. I am currently the East Iowa District chair and I’ve served on the East Iowa Committee for three years prior to that. Of course speech and debate has been an important part of my life since I’ve been involved in one way or another since high school, but over the last few years I’ve realized that despite the fact that nationally, 48.8% of NSDA coaches are female-identifying, the number of women in leadership roles in Iowa does not reflect that. We currently have an IFL committee made up all men, and though I respect all of them and appreciate all they do, we are doing a disservice to the girls in our activity by not having female-identifying representation in leadership roles. So, I’m stepping up to try to fill that role, and I would appreciate your vote to ensure that there is representation on the committee.