2013-14 Outstanding Speech, Debate and Theatre Educator Awards

 Gail M. Naylor
Section 5 

Gail M. Naylor strives to help her students develop a “framework of confidence” through caring for others, honing communication skills and endorsing critical thinking skills with reflection. As the director of debate/speech/theatre for 37 years at Silver Lake (Kansas) High School, she has been able to touch the lives of the students she has taught in speech, debate, theatre, creative writing and acting and interpretation classes. As a chairperson, she represented the language arts and communications department, as well as the leadership team for school improvement and excellence.

Prior to her time at Silver Lake, Naylor held the same positions at Washington (Kansas) High School for three years. She has directed 29 plays and musicals at Washington and Silver Lake and tallied 35 plays and musicals as technical director. For her work as a coach, Naylor was awarded the Bickel and Brewer International Public Policy Forum Distinguished Service Award in 2011. In 2012, she was inducted into the National Forensics League Hall of Fame, after receiving its Fifth Diamond Key Coach Award in 2009. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the Kansas Speech Communication Association (2007) and the Kansas Debate Coaches Invitational (2005).

The Emporia State University graduate is a five-time nominee for the Kansas State Teacher of the Year and a four-time Silver Lakes School Teacher of the Year. In 1999, she was awarded the National Catholic Distinguished Service Award. Naylor has directed seven Kansas State High School Activities Association 3A Speech and Drama champion teams, six second-place finish and nine third-place finish teams.

 Jamie R. Yung
Missouri 

Jamie R. Yung began teaching because she wanted to lead a selfless life, serving a meaningful purpose. She has been doing just that for the past 14 years. Starting at Stover (Missouri) High School, she taught English, oral interpretation, speech and theatre classes. She served as the sponsor for the Society of Performing Arts, speech and theatre coach and the director of the theatrical performances.

In 2006, Yung was awarded District Teacher of the Year and the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year. Four years prior, she was nominated as the “Teacher Who has Made the Most Impact” from the Fine Arts Academy. Moving her work to Lexington (Missouri) High School, she has taught speech, theatre, oral interpretation, debate and film analysis for the past seven years. The Lexington speech/theatre/debate team has won four conference championships under her direction, as well as numerous district championships.

Yung was honored as the District Teacher of the Year again in 2009. She has served on the leadership committee at Lexington, as well as the positive behavior support coach. She currently holds memberships with the Missouri National Education Association and the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri. Yung serves on the Board of Governors and is in her second term on the Missouri State High School Activities Association Advisory Committee.

 Lynda Luce
Wisconsin 

Lynda Luce believed she was in a position to help students meet their fullest potential. Striving for this, she provided an environment that was safe, supported risk-taking and invited a sharing of ideas. She practiced this way of teaching when she first started her work at St. Mary’s Academy, where she taught four classes and was the director for the one-act play and musicals. She carried similar positions at Iola-Scandinavia (Wisconsin) High School for one year and Weyauwega (Wisconsin) Fremont High School for two years.

Luce found a home at Waupaca High School, where she taught speech, drama and English until 2012. While at Waupaca, she was awarded the Wisconsin Forensic Coach of the Year Hintz Award and the Hilshire Krahn’s Waupaca Teach of the Year award in 1993. Four years later, she was awarded the Wisconsin Speech Teacher of the Year Weaver Award. In 2002, Luce was given the National Forensic League (NFL) Service Award.

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point graduate served different positions with the Wisconsin Forensic Coaches Association, including president and secretary. Involved in the NFL, she was named a Diamond Coach for three years and was coach of national qualifiers for a total of nine years. Luce has also filled various positions with the National Catholic Forensic League, the Wisconsin High School Forensic League, the Wisconsin Communications Association and the Wisconsin Gifted and Talented Convention.

 Lynn Jacobsen
Section 4 

Lynn Jacobsen found a home at Danville (Iowa) Community Schools, where he started teaching in 1974. At the high school level, he taught speech, theatre and English, coaching the theatre and speech activities outside of his time in a classroom. He also stood as the sponsor for the National Honor Society. In 2012, Jacobsen decided to leave the classroom and retire as a teacher, but his influence didn’t stop.

Although he has left the classroom, Jacobsen continues to stay involved at Danville, coaching the theatre and speech activities. As a speech coach, he has coached 109 all-state individual performers and 146 all-state group performers from 1974 to 2013. On the theatre end, he has directed all stage productions for the past 40 years. In 2003, Jacobsen was inducted into the Iowa High School Speech Association Speech Coaches Hall of Fame.

Outside the high school, Jacobsen and his wife wanted to continue to provide an opportunity for others to stay involved in theatre. In 1979, they founded the Southeast Iowa Community Players, an organization that produces summer musical theatre events. From 1988 to 2006, Jacobsen served as director of the Iowa show choir camps, which were held each summer in Iowa and Nebraska.

 Donald J. Fortner
Indiana 

Donald J. Fortner has taken his love of forensics and applied it to the positions he has held at Munster (Indiana) High School. For 35 years, he has coached speech and debate, focusing on the areas of public address, Congress and Lincoln-Douglas debate. In these areas, he has coached state champions in extemporaneous speaking (10), Congress (three) and Lincoln-Douglas debate (two), as well as eight state mental attitude award winners.

Fortner is co-director of the Munster program, with four state championships in the past four years. The program has earned the School of Excellence Award from the National Forensic League (NFL) for the past two years and the National Catholic Forensic League last year. Munster is one of three schools to be honored with the award from both organizations. Fortner has worked with the “We the People” program, which holds a state championship and national finalist honor. He has been inducted into the Indiana High School Forensics Hall of Fame, providing him with the opportunity to work at the Indiana University Blue Ribbon Speech and Debate camp.

Outside his work with speech and debate, Fortner teaches business and economics. He is a past president of the Global Association of Teachers of Economics and was selected as the 2011 Indiana Social Studies Distinguished Teacher of the Year. He is on the Northwest Indiana National Forensic League Committee (ten years) and serves on the Indiana High School Forensic Association Board of Directors (five years). As a member of the district committee, Fortner has participated in the NFL Leadership Conference.

 Donigale Dilworth
Michigan 

Donigale Dilworth is a program starter. In her first position as a teacher in 1987 at Carlton County (Minnesota) Cromwell School District, she started an eighth-grade class play and a grade 7-12 speech team, in hopes of launching a speech and debate program. She succeeded. Dilworth moved her efforts to the business world before making her way back to the educational world.

As a parent-coach, Dilworth launched another speech and debate program in Hartland, Michigan. She revived the high school program and added middle school and fifth/sixth grade speech team. Dilworth strives for the students to give back by mentoring the younger students. Hartland Forensics is the only integrated 5th-12th grade speech and debate program in the county. It works by the motto “Think. Communicate. Adapt.,” which is just what Dilworth did.

Dilworth carries accomplishments across two states, Minnesota and Michigan, ranging from state qualifiers in speech and debate to National Junior Forensic League national tournament contestants, advancing as far as the semifinal rounds. She is the chairperson for the Michigan Middle Level Forensics Committee and tournament director for three state tournaments. Dilworth hosts online webinars, providing an outlet for coaches, parents and students to share ideas and expertise.

 Cheryl L. Frazier
Illinois 

Cheryl L. Frazier started her teaching career at South Holland (Illinois) Thornwood High School in 1997 as a speech and science teacher. Deepening her involvement with theatre and speech, she took her work to South Suburban College, where she was an instructor in the department of communications. She taught oral communication, oral interpretation, acting and introduction to theatre. There, she developed a speech team and helped coach students who would become national qualifiers.

Frazier returned to Thornwood, where she held various positions, including theatre manager and head speech coach. As the group interpretation director, she was a six-time state champion, four-time state runner up and four-time finalist director. In 2010, the speech team grabbed the Illinois High School Association state speech individual events team title.

During her time at Thornwood, Frazier stood as the director of forensics and theatre. In this position, she and her performers took a trip to Atlanta, Georgia, where they performed in the first Atlanta Black Theatre Festival. They competed in the National August Wilson Monologue Competition in New York, as well as the National Forensic League national tournament in Birmingham, Alabama. Frazier also held positions as the fine arts department chair and communications house leader.

 Paul L. Gaba
Section 3 

Paul L. Gaba’s professional career didn’t start in speech, theatre or debate. It started in a different area – media. As a professional journalist, he managed a high school radio station in Michigan, before deciding to take his work to a classroom. In 1999, Gaba started his teaching career and debate track at Stuart (Florida) South Fork High School. Three years later, he made the transition to Lake Worth (Florida) Wellington High School.

As a teacher and debate coach, Gaba is motivated by his students, their excitement, their desire to compete and their success. He hosts workshops to provide the opportunity for improvement, as students learn from him and others. While on breaks, he provides work sessions for students to discuss writings and cut scripts. Gaba pushes to raise the bar of success for those around him.

Gaba holds offices in three leagues, at the national and state levels. He serves as a committee member for National Forensic League Panther District, which he has done since 2003. For the past seven years, he has been the Palm Beach Catholic Forensic League vice president of individual events. In this position, he helped revamp the Palm Beach School District’s Debate Curriculum Guide. Since 2009, he has been the Florida Forensic League (FFL) vice president and webmaster, where he updates the FFL web page on a regular basis. Gaba is a member of the FFL Policy Debate Task Force, as well.

 Dr. Barbara Lowe
Mississippi 

Dr. Barbara Lowe began her speech and debate career while still in high school. A member of the McComb (Mississippi) High School National Forensic League (NFL) chapter, she became a lifetime member of NFL in 1977. During her time at Tulane University, she was able to co-direct her first play, Arsenic and Old Lace, which was performed at McMain Magnet School in New Orleans.

After graduating with a Master’s Degree from Simmons College in Boston, Lowe took her work to The Fessenden School, a day and boarding school for K-9 boys in Massachusetts. There, she directed four performances, one being a second production of Arsenic and Old Lace. In 2004, Lowe began working at Oxford (Mississippi) High School. She taught four English classes and two debate classes.

While at Oxford, Lowe revived the speech and debate program. The program hadn’t had a performance for more than 15 years. She began to create a program with little resources, attending just one tournament a year. “The past 10 years have been an education in advocacy,” she said. With tremendous growth and support, Lowe has been able to increase the involvement in Oxford’s speech and debate program to 58 students to attend 11 tournaments.

 Anthony Figliola
Section 2 

Anthony Figliola has spent the past 41 years in a life of forensics. While at St. Joseph’s College, he founded the speech team, holding various positions, including director, coach and competitor. After graduation, Figliola began heading the program at Holy Ghost Prep in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. The program boasts 18 school state titles, with more than 90 individual student titles, and two finalists at the National Forensic League tournament.

Starting in 1988, Figiola started and/or taught at educational institutions during the summer, including Berkeley, University of Texas National Institute in Forensics, George Mason Institute of Forensics and Florida Forensic Institution. Staying true to his alma mater, Figliola serves as a coach at St. Joseph’s University (formerly College).

Figliola has been inducted into the Pennsylvania NFL Hall of Fame and the NFL Hall of Fame. He continues his work by serving with the NFL, on the Interp Publication Committee. He has aided in various areas throughout the National Catholic Forensic League, including drafting guidelines for NFCL Duo. Figliola believes in “empowering students to take charge of their own lives,” which is something that he has practiced.

 Ronald Moyer
South Dakota 

Ronald Moyer started judging high school speech and drama events in South Dakota in 1974. In the almost four decades he’s been judging, Moyer’s averaged six to nine contests per year and critiqued the work of more than 7,500 students.

Moyer is currently the Professor Emeritus in the theatre department at the University of South Dakota, following 36 years as a professor including three terms as department chair. Through his career as the professor, he had the pleasure of teaching students that he judged during their high school competitions.

Several of the plays Moyer has directed have been recognized by the American College Theater Festival and he was recipient of the South Dakota High School Activities Association’s Distinguished Service Award.

 Mark Quinlan
Minnesota 

Mark Quinlan has led the Circle Pines (Minnesota) Centennial High School speech team to section championship 16 of the past 18 years.

Quinlan is currently in his 36th year as a teacher, coach and director at Centennial. Over the course of his career, he’s been the head speech coach and directed 95 theatrical productions.

The National Forensic League recognizes Quinlan as a four diamond coach with a fifth diamond expected within the year. He has also been recognized as the Minnesota State High School League Class AA Speech Coach of the Year and rewarded the Distinguished Service Award by the Minnesota Speech Coaches Association.

 Donna Landon
Oklahoma 

In 1995, Donna Landon initiated a competitive speech program at Claremore (Oklahoma) Sequoyah Mid-High School, after spending the first 10 years of her career teaching speech, drama and debate.

Since then she’s had students qualify for regional and state competition as well as one National Forensic League champion, a Nationals qualifier and an Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) state champion and state runner-up.  She has also held a position on the OSSAA Speech Advisory Board since 2001.

Landon believes that learning to communicate effectively is one of life’s most valuable lessons and that drama participation allows students to experience another person’s situation for a brief time and understand why people do what they do.

 Dawn Tucker
Arkansas 

As the 2013 Arkansas Communication and Theater Arts Association (ACTAA) Teacher of the Year, Dawn Tucker is all about her students at Jonesboro (Arkansas) High School, where she has taught and coached speech and debate since 2005.

Tucker believes that if one student will be excluded then that exercise is worth rethinking. This student-focused approach is reflected in the success of those students.

She has led teams and troupes to three excellent ratings and five superior ratings in the state one-act competition, gold troupe awards, as well as first and second place awards at several forensic tournaments. Under her tutelage, students have received in excess of $500,000 in scholarship offers.

Tucker's involvement in the communication and theater community includes two terms, one which she is currently serving, as the ACTAA president and serving as the chair of the ACTAA State Tournament Committee.

 Kristi Hodgkiss
Section 6 

Kristi Hodgkiss sees herself as not just a debate coach, but a life coach to the students of Paris (Texas) North Lamar High School. At North Lamar, Hogkiss has been the director of forensics since 2000.

For 22 years, Hodgkiss has been coaching speech and has earned the title of a National Forensic League (NFL) two diamond coach and won two NFL service awards.

During her tenure, 65 of her students have advanced to the state meet. Of those, 43 have placed in the top six and nine have been state champions. Hodgkiss has also led students to a team state championship, 18 district team championships and three regional team championships. She's also had four student semi-finalists and three quarter-finalists in the NFL's National Speech and Debate Tournament.

 Meg Howell-Haymaker
Section 7 

Meg Howell-Haymaker has touched the lives of students throughout Arizona and New Mexico since she began teaching in 1983. She is currently working as the director of forensics at Mesa (Arizona) Mountain View High School.

Several students that have benefitted from Howell-Haymaker in the classroom have been coached to the National Forensic League (NFL) National Tournament. Not only that, but she also believes that her students leave high school with more poise and confidence than when they arrived.

In 2011, Howell-Haymaker was inducted into both the NFL Hall of Fame and the Forensic League of Arizona Coaches Hall of Fame. She is currently the NFL's Arizona District chair and was the recipient of the NFL Gold Service Award for District Chairs. She was also the 2013 NFL Ralph E. Carey Distinguished Career Service Award winner.

 Mona Farnsworth
Utah 

For the past 22 years, Mona Farnsworth has been a speech/debate/theater educator at Duchesne (Utah) High School.

Farnsworth has also established the musical theater program at Duchesne and has been the director for 20 years. She helped Duchesne become the first high school to produce Great Expectations and worked with professional lyricist Richard Winzeler who wrote the music.

She has led students to 20 region speech and debate championships, 17 region drama team championships, two Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) drama team state championships, 12  UHSAA state drama festival superior school ratings and 10 UHSAA state drama superior play ratings.

Personally, Farnsworth has been recognized as the region and state coach of the year for both theater and speech/debate.

 Bill Nicolay
Section 8 

After owning his own business for 15 years, Bill Nicolay changed careers and found himself as the English, acting and speech and debate teacher at Snohomish (Washington) High School.

When Nicolay began coaching speech and debate, he had a limited budget and very few interested students. Since then, the budget has increased and he has 72 students on the team. In the past five years, students have received more than $700,000 in speech and debate scholarships.

Under Nicolay's instruction, students have won more than 2,000 individual awards. Team awards include winning the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Class 4A speech state championship. The program was also champions of the Puget Sound National Speech and Debate district and average six entries to the NFL National Tournament.

He has been recognized as the Washington State Forensic Association New Coach of the Year, Pacific Lutheran University Coach of the Year, as well as being the recipient of the Washington State Educators of Excellence award and the NFL Distinguished Service Key award.

 Jeffrey Stoppenhagen
Idaho 

From 1997 to 2012, Jeffrey Stoppenhagen held the position of associate director of forensics at Boise State University helping the school’s speech and debate team to two national championships. Since taking his current position as the director of forensics at the high school level in the Nampa (Idaho) District, where he has been since 2012, Stoppenhagen has quickly become a leader at the high school level.

Stoppenhagen believes that in order to prepare students for their future it is his responsibility to help students make connections between what they think and say, and how they can use those skills to not only better themselves, but the community as well.

He is a member of the Idaho Speech Arts Teachers Association (ISATA) Idaho State Board and was the 2013 ISATA Speech Arts Teacher of the Year. Stoppenhagen also currently serves as the national president of the speech honorary Pi Kappa Delta.

 Robert Crawford
Oregon 

Robert Crawford retired from teaching full-time in 2009, but has spent time as a volunteer speech and debate coach since.

Crawford's career began at Halfway (Oregon) Pine Eagle High School in 1986. The school averaged 60 to 65 students, but he consistently had between 10 and 17 students participating in the competitive speech program. Under his direction, the program boosted one individual state champion and several team district tournament championships.

Additionally, Crawford had the essay In the Defense of Competitive Speech published in the NFL's publication The Rostrum. The essay discusses the value of competitive speech in schools.