About
The SMFHS Speech & Debate team has fostered the art of professional speaking, analytical research, and debate skills for more than 30 years. Undergoing 3 incarnations and 3 head coaches, today the team continues to compete with the best schools in the state, producing impressive results at local, state, and national levels.
Started in the early 1970’s by Walter J. Kimpton, the team originally consisted of only debaters. Following Mr. Kimpton’s departure, Ed Vandenbulke took over as head coach and spearheaded the team for a number of years. However, interest and participation waned, and the program became defunct in the 80’s.
Then came Suzanne Theisen.
Hired on initially as a long term sub, later becoming a full fledged member of the SMFHS English department, Sue Theisen took her experience as a former competitor, and revived a long dormant program. Much like Kimpton’s group, the initial team members were all debaters. However, in 1991, Stow achieved state qualification status for the first time with Chicory Krisch, a Prose/Poetry competitor.
From that point on, Stow grew as a team in both debate and speech areas, winning the state title in 4-Person Policy Debate in 1994 and again in 1998. The state championship in Lincoln Douglas Debate was won by Nathan Carleton in 2001. State finalists and semi-finalists have appeared in nearly all events. 1999 was Stow’s most accomplished year to date at the state level, producing finalists in Foreign Extemporaneous, Duo Interpretation, and Dramatic Interpretation, helping the team to finish 6th out of all schools in Ohio.
1994 saw the first National Tournament berth for the team when Preston Hayley, a Lincoln-Douglas debater, qualified through the EONFL District Tournament. In 1998, Holly Humes became the first Individual Events competitor to qualify to Nationals- as District Champion in Dramatic Interpretation. Since then, Stow has sent 9 more students to the tournament- 4 alone in 2007!
Stow is a member of both the National Forensic League (www.nflonline.org) as part of the Eastern Ohio district and the Ohio High School Speech League (www.ohssl.org), where they compete in the Akron District. Sue Theisen has sat on the State Executive Committee as well as the Akron District Committee, serving as chair of that group along with Holly Humes, who served as Assistant Coach for 8 years after her graduation.
This most recent incarnation of SMFHS Speech & Debate has provided the opportunity for students to succeed in various capacities at many different levels for nearly 20 years. Graduates of the team have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, architects, politicians, government officials, and much more. What does the future hold for the group? As alumni and current team members have proven time and time again, the possibilities are endless.
