Debate coach went extra mile
I stumbled upon Speech & Debate during my freshman year at Winter Park High School, feeling unsure of who I was and who I wanted to be. During the first month of school, I walked into a classroom where a handful of students were gathered under the wing of our school’s Speech & Debate Coach, Ms. Patti McGuire. On that momentous Thursday afternoon, I signed up to compete in Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the urging of Ms. McGuire, despite no prior understanding of the activity. She handed me a packet of information about the ins and outs of the debate format, and I spent hours flipping back and forth through it. Once my case was finished, she cross-examined me with thoughtful questions as I stared, wideeyed. At my first novice tournament that month, I placed first in the region, with the encouragement of Ms. McGuire.
Throughout my debate career, I experienced several mountains that almost stopped me from pursuing the activity. At a tournament during my sophomore year, one that I had prepared especially hard for, I lost all of my first three rounds. I was beyond ready to quit. I asked Ms. McGuire if I could forfeit the rest of the tournament and drive back home, but she refused to let me give up. At a moment when even my parents couldn’t make me feel better, Ms. McGuire encouraged me to keep fighting. She told me to have fun with the rest of the tournament — to test out new arguments and debate like it was my last round. I won the next three rounds in a row.
We live in one of the largest publicschool districts in the country, yet, resourceful private schools often dominated debate. At the 2019 Central Florida StateQualifying Tournament, for instance, only two of the 12 debate teams that qualified to the state tournament were from public schools. Most public-school debate teams and coaches, including ours, remain under-resourced. Ms. McGuire received minimal compensation for her time, yet she did as much as she could to coach, encourage participation, and support us. She fought to secure funding for our team to attend tournaments.
Ms. McGuire never pointed out the flaws in my work and never told me how to fix them. Instead, she asked probing questions that made me realize the pitfalls in my own cases. She spent hours of her time to help me become a better debater. In the weeks leading up to major tournaments, she sacrificed her lunch time to
HOME DELIVERY RATES listen to my speeches. She traveled across the state and country, spending weekends to volunteer at the tournaments where I would compete. Often times, I was the only student from our school to compete. Ms. McGuire was willing to spend the time, whether it was to help one student or 100.
Ms. McGuire continued to assist me even after her retirement in May. She took out hours from her summer vacation to call me and discuss my case for a national championship. She gave me the confidence to debate successfully after an unfortunate loss, propelling me to place third in the nation. Ms. McGuire’s philosophy was responsible for my successful career, which was unprecedented for a smallteam debater. I had learned to defeat other competitors with self-sufficiency and preparation, a lesson that will carry me through a lifetime. Those lessons are what made debate more than a competition.
As a coach and mentor, Ms. McGuire not only facilitated my success in high school debate, but she also instilled the values of perseverance and courage in me. She inspired me to give back to the debate community by mentoring other young debaters. For that, I remain eternally grateful.