Coach and Senior of the Year Voting

Each school is entitled to one submission in each category.


IFL EXECUTIVE BOARD NOMINATIONS

This year, one seat on the IFL Executive Board is open for election. The seat is currently occupied by Joe Rankin of Bettendorf High School. Joe is also the only person who has been nominated to fill the seat. You can vote at the following link, and if you want to indicate your preference for an alternate or write-in candidate, you can do so by following the directions on the survey:

Executive Board Voting

Joe Rankin, Bettendorf

COACH OF THE YEAR NOMINATIONS

Go here to vote: Coach of the Year Voting

From Fez Zafar:

Max Hardt, Roosevelt 

On behalf of the Roosevelt Speech and Debate Team, I wish to nominate our head coach, Max Hardt, for Coach of the Year. 

Since his entrance in Fall 2017, Roosevelt’s speech team has seen expansion from a few members to almost two dozen, and has gained several accolades at national-circuit tournaments this school year. Under Max’s leadership, Roosevelt’s public forum teams have also consistently ranked among the top 30 nationwide, while garnering multiple Round-Robin wins, displaying his effective guidance as a coach. For these reasons, and many more, I believe that Mr. Hardt would be a perfect candidate for this recognition.

From Nathan Irwin, Kindall Todd, and Jacob Licht:

Marissa Kuiken, Sioux City East

Nathan Irwin writes:

I would like to Nominate Marissa Kuiken, coach for Sioux City East High, for Coach of the Year. Her work ethic, patients and her ability to not only lead but connect with the students she coaches makes her an outstanding candidate to consider.

               Marissa Kuiken is the head Sioux City East High Debate coach. Not only does she coach debate but she teaches classes on drama, debate, and play production at Sioux City East High School. She also is East Highs main drama coordinator. She directors and coordinates both a winter and spring production for high school. Even with her busy schedule Marissa dedicates herself to the kids. She puts in hours of work instructing how to cut pieces for novices, helping find materials for all debate participants, and taking ours of her time to rehearse and clean all of her participants material.

               When Marissa first arrived at Sioux City East in 2014 she came to a debate team that had very little success. Her first year as coach she only had 5 participating in debate, today Sioux City East High Debate team has grown to be a consistent contender at debate competitions. The size of the debate team has grown from 5 to currently having over 50 kids competing at different debate competitions. This year alone, she successfully was able to send a total of 5 students to the National Debate tournament held in Dallas. Her hard work and determination is what lead Marissa to winning the Donus D. Roberts Quad Ruby award from the NSDA in 2018.

               Marissa goes above beyond to help her students reach their full potential. Peers and students alike, look at Marissa as a fantastic teacher and colleague. East High School is lucky to have such a committed coach who always represents their school with fantastic leadership ability, work ethic, and overall great personality. Please consider Marissa Kuiken as Coach of the Year.

Jacob Licht writes:

Hi, my name is Jacob Licht and i'm writing this to nominate my speech and debate coach Marissa Kuiken. I believe she is very deserving of this award because she has helped so many people in debate and debate speech activities. She is fun and encouraging to all of her students and makes them feel like champs even if they didn't win. She is kind, caring, fun, sometimes brutally honest, but it helps make us better. She helps everyone become the best at what they can be in any speech/debate category. 

She helped me even get interested in debate/speech. She saw talent and helped me become apart of this team that I am apart of now. And I have been apart of it ever since. With her help she has alot of shy, timid, and nervous people come out of their shells. And she built up our squad to what it is now. So I nominate Marissa Kuiken for this award. Thank you for your consideration.

Kindall Todd writes:

It gives me great pleasure to nominate Marissa Behan Kuiken for the Iowa Forensic League Coach of the Year. As a parent of one of her former students, I can attest to the profound effect she has on her students. Her classroom is a safe learning environment where all students are welcomed and are encouraged to take risks. Ms. Kuiken inspires even the quietest, most timid students to find their voice and then teaches them how to use it effectively.  

As a coach, her passion is contagious. Students are motivated to excel, to continually work on improving their pieces so their message is heard. Ms. Kuiken leads by example and students follow. Not only has she has built a speech and debate team that is inclusive and supportive of each other, but one that is incredibly successful. In her five years of coaching, she has had three Academic All-Americans, two back-to-back IFL State Sweepstakes Championships (and one runner-up), as well as having several students qualify and compete at NSDA’s National Tournament for the past four years. 

Her unwavering dedication and commitment to students is impressive and she should be recognized as the Iowa Forensic League Coach of the Year.

From John Cooper and Dave McGinnis:

Joe Rankin, Bettendorf

John Cooper writes:

Joe Rankin is my coach of the year nomination. He has been incredibly helpful in guiding me through the process of becoming part of the Iowa Speech and Debate community. Beyond that, Joe is the kind of coach that makes me want to coach! He has a positive attitude and energy and makes an extra effort at every turn. Kids gravitate towards him and drink up his advice. I am so excited to have his leadership and look forward to learning much more as we work together in the future.

Dave McGinnis writes:

Joe Rankin could be the “coach of the year” literally every year. There are few coaches in the country who combine commitment to excellence in their own program with commitment to the speech and debate community as thoroughly as Joe does. He is an active leader, coordinating his NSDA district and working on the IFL executive board to make IFL State happen. He mentors new coaches and programs in an ongoing effort to build debate in the state. And he does all of this while maintaining one of the state’s most dominant forensics programs. Anyone who has ever interacted with Joe knows that he is an incredibly affable guy. At his annual home tournament, his first concern is always that his guests have a positive experience, and he will bend over backward to meet any coach or student need or concern. Joe sets a high bar for leadership and collegiality. He is definitely the coach of the year. 

SENIOR OF THE YEAR NOMINATIONS

Go here to vote: Senior of the Year Voting

From Marissa Kuiken:

Denisse Camarena, Sioux City East

I would like to nominate Denisse Camarena, a student at Sioux City East High, for senior of the year. Her work ethic, team leadership, and all around good character makes Denisse an outstanding person and deserving candidate.

            Denisse is the Sioux City East High Debate Co-Captain. She has given her all to building a very strong debate team. Denisse volunteers many hours to helping novice performers with their pieces and is a cheerleader and mentor for all students on the team. Denisse is a natural leader. In all extra-curricular activities in which she is involved, she is a great member of the team. In IE for IHSSA speech, Denisse is a 3 time individual All-State performer, and has been to Large Group IHSSA All-State 3 years. She has participated in many of the plays/musicals I have directed at East. She is a fantastic performer to direct as she is always prepared, punctual, and positive. Additionally, she is a stage crew member of Headliners, the prestigious show choir at East High.

            Denisse Camarena is an amazing leader and role model at Sioux City East High. Staff and peers look to Denisse as a positive presence at our school. She showcases every quality that a teacher and coach could want in a student and participant in their activity and that students want in a peer. She always goes above and beyond in all activities in and out of the classroom. She challenges herself and other students around her to achieve their best. At every Debate tournament, and Speech Tournament she represents the Sioux City District with positive choices, leadership abilities and a great personality.  Please consider Denisse Camarena as Senior of the year.

From Max Hardt:

Eleanor Hildebrandt, Roosevelt

Since her freshman year of high school, Eleanor Hildebrandt has tried a fair share of NSDA events, from DI to IX. And while Interpretation wasn’t quite her calling, she found a home in the world of Congressional Debate—and here, she has soared. Competing both on the local and national circuit, Eleanor has had her fair share of motions, recesses, and terrible recency. A true proponent of equality, she is incredibly outspoken about the issues that face marginalized populations within this community, and in the world beyond. She has amassed over 10 career bids in Congressional debate and did so as the leader of the Congressional Debate team at Roosevelt. A true captain, she has led the charge for herself and her peers all throughout her high school career, guiding practices, and instructing younger students to bring them into the Congressional fold. It truly has become an army of Congressional debaters, that frankly, gets more accomplished than the real Congress—an accomplishment that could not have been done without Ellie’s hard work and dedication.

The incredible thing about the time and effort Ellie has spent on Speech & Debate, is that moreso than any other student in our program—she doesn’t have the time to do it! Her participation in band, her volunteer work, internships, journalism, and captaincy of the swim team, all while maintaining excellent grades with an immensely rigorous class schedule is awe-inspiring. Ellie is the type of student that makes my role as a coach so enjoyable, and pushes me to improve, as well. If a high school student can dedicate so much time to not only their own improvement and well-being, but also the well-being of others… Well, we could all do a little more. Students like this keep us honest, and assisting them in any way possible is one of the great joys of being a coach. I could not be prouder to nominate Ellie for senior of the year and am looking forward to all of the wonderful things she will accomplish during College and beyond.

From Joe Rankin:

Logan Quick, Bettendorf

Logan has been a key member of the Bettendorf program for years, with a great number of accomplishments. He is currently a 3-time qualifier to Nationals, hoping to make his 4th appearance this year — making him the 4th member in Betten dorf school history to achieve that honor. He is an Academic All-American through the National Speech and Debate Association, which shows through his current total of 1,367 NSDA points while maintaining a 4.0 GPA througout his HS career. He has participating in a number of activities throughout his Speech/Debate career, including: Duo Interpretation, Extemporaneous SPeaking, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, and World Schools Debate. Beyond these accomplishments on the team, Logan is one of the people you can count on the most to donate his time and energy to fundraising efforts for the Bettendorf program. During the summer, he has been one of the only students to help on multiple fundraising projects that helped keep the team going throughout the entire school year. Beyond that, Logan emphasizes keeping the team atmosphere as fun and interactive while supporting new team members to the best of his ability. For these reasons, I believe Logan would make an excellent candidate for Student of the Year. 

From Cyndy Woodhouse:

Emily Robinson, CR Kennedy

Emily Robinson is a compassionate, hard-working, thoughtful, and focused debater who represents Iowa values and traditions. Emily is committed to the idea that debate should be all-inclusive (not limited to TAG students) and that talent is equally distributed among students, but sometimes equal access is not. As a Public Forum debater, Emily was fortunate enough to be able to attend summer institutes, so she volunteered to help with topic lectures and debate speaking drills, so that she could share what she had learned at camp with her teammates. Emily has been a very successful Public Forum debater. She has placed in every Public Forum tournament that she has competed in in Iowa, she has also broken in several major national tournaments, such as Apple Valley, Dowling, and Glenbrooks. She has made elimination rounds at the State tournament every year. She was a district alternate to Nationals in Domestic Extemporaneous her freshman and sophomore year, she was also a district alternate in Legislative Debate her freshman year. Emily qualified for Nationals her sophomore year in Public Forum, and her junior and senior years in World Schools Debate. 

          In competition, Emily is gracious in wins and respectful in losses. She is known for being friendly to other teams, providing kind words and encouragement to new students-not just those from Kennedy-and she has grown to become a well-known figure in Iowa debate and on the national stage as well. There has not been a local Iowa tournament that Emily has not traveled to at some point in her four years of high school and she enjoys being a part of a local community more than national travel. Outside of debate, Emily has always been a champion for equality. She works with English Language Learner (ELL) students during our intervention time to practice English speaking skills. She has encouraged and helped bring both ELL and foreign exchange students into the Speech and Debate program. During her sophomore year, Emily helped organize an ELL field trip to the state capitol so our elected representatives could discuss Iowa issues with students that were new to America. Furthermore, this year, Emily has worked with the Beyond Resolve debate group, a group that mentors and peer coaches disadvantaged students. Emily has been working this year with two female students from rural North Carolina who do not have the coaching infrastructure in our schools so they can attend local competitions of their own. 

          In academics, Emily is a straight-A student who is taking classes at the Iowa Big Academy, where she is designing a fundraiser for the next holiday season. One of her many AP classes is AP Research, where Emily is running her own nation-wide study to determine whether there is a race/gender/SES disadvantage in the debate community and what can be done to close this gap. Emily’s academic plan is to attend a four-year university with the goal of becoming a secondary social studies teacher with an emphasis in curriculum design to teach students of all backgrounds.

From Joe Rankin:

Yash Singh, Bettendorf

Yash Singh is an incredibly driven member of the Bettendorf Speech and Debate Team. He has earned 1,415 NSDA points over his 4 years on the team and is a 2-time National qualifier (with hopes to attend his 3rd Nationals this year). Yash is an Academic All-American, maintaining a 4.0 GPA while competing at nearly every tournament possible since his Freshmen year. Yash has had an incredible Speech/Debate career primarily focused on Public Forum Debate, with his top accomplishment finishing in 22nd Place at the National tournament his Junior year. Yash has maintained this focus on Public Forum Debate, even while changing partners nearly every year because his partner was always 1-2 years older than he was. Yash has helped immensely the last year with our Novice Public Forum Debate teams, trying to prepare them for our Seniors departure later this year. I believe Yash Singh would make an excellent candidate for Student of the Year.

From Max Hardt:

Ben Theuma, Roosevelt

Ben Theuma has an immense passion for bringing people to tears. What do you expect from a dramatic interper? Since his first year of high school, he has put every fiber of his being into improving himself through speech and debate. Through ups and downs, both locally and nationally, he has never let the outcome of a round affect his own attitude, or his support for his teammates. He is always seeking to better himself and his skills, which culminated in qualifying for the Tournament of Champions, and ultimately breaking to elimination rounds. 

                While he dedicates a significant amount of his time to this activity, Ben has used his position in speech and debate to better himself outside of the activity, through his work as a page for the state legislature. With these wonderful experiences, he is positioned to take the next step into college and continue to grow into an incredible young man. Despite these massive time commitments, though, he never misses an opportunity to work with the novices, helping them with cutting their pieces, their blocking, and generally giving them tips and advice about participating in the activity. Ben is one of the best young leaders that I know, and I could not be prouder to nominate him for senior of the year. He is one of most altruistic and hardworking young individuals that I have met, and I am incredibly excited to see him realize his potential.

From Dave McGinnis:

Conal Thomas-McGinnis, Valley

Despite my natural and understandable bias, I can say objectively that Conal Thomas-McGinnis is the top Iowa senior in the class of 2019. 

Based on accomplishments, he is without peer. Conal began debating in the fifth grade. He attended middle school nationals four times, winning the national championship in his 8th grade year. He had his first TOC bid round as an 8th grader. Since reaching high school, he has qualified to NSDA Nationals and the TOC four years running. He has won more local and national tournaments than I can count, and has accumulated twenty career TOC bids. He won the IHSSA State LD championship as a freshman and sophomore, and won the IFL State championship as a sophomore. Since then, he has supported the Valley program and the state by competing in the PF division, where he has cleared at state and made it to the go-round at NSDA quals (which he conceded, as he had already qualified in LD.) With 3,223 NSDA points, he is the most-accomplished NSDA student in Iowa (by nearly one thousand points) and the twelfth most-accomplished NSDA student in the nation. 

By the numbers, Conal is objectively our state’s top senior. 

But of course, the numbers are not all that matters. Like all of our top seniors, Conal is dedicated,  generous, and caring. He has spent countless hours coaching and mentoring younger debaters at Valley. In addition to his own rigorous competition schedule, he gives up more than ten weekends a year to coach, judge, and mentor our younger debaters at local and regional competitions. When, in 2017, we piloted a program to mentor new debate programs in Iowa, Conal committed every Thursday evening to teaching students from other schools around the state for over two months. Conal doesn’t participate in our school district’s “Silver Cord” volunteer-recognition program; he receives no recognition of any kind for all of the hours he spends helping others. He does it because it comes to him as second-nature. I have had all kinds of explanations and justifications prepared to share with him if he ever asked why he was expected to spend so much of his time helping others, but he has never asked. He just does it. 

Conal exemplifies everything I look for in a student, and I am looking forward (as is he) to the start of his career as a coach. Of course, I’m also his father. Seeing him receive the Senior of the Year award would be the best culmination of is Iowa career that I could hope for. 

From Jeremy Fitzpatrick:

Sierra Wicks, Johnston

I nominate Sierra Wicks for senior of the year. Sierra has been instrumental in the success of the Johnston high school speech and debate team. Sierra’s dedication to the activity and willingness to help others makes her a great student leader. At times, Sierra took on the role of speech coach. Working, teaching, and coaching fellow teammates. Through speech and debate she has found her voice and uses it to not only better herself but those around her. She is always one of the first to help a new member out and make them feel welcome to the team. She helps them find the category that will best help them to find their voice. Sierra has taken what she has learned in speech and used it to become a leader in the school It is with great pride and pleasure I nominate Sierra Wicks for student of the year.