August/September Coach of the Month

 Holly Hollifield is a dedicated teacher, loyal to her school, and willing to go the extra mile in order to help her students excel.  Coaching a speech and debate team requires numerous hours of work beyond the classroom.  It is also the logical extension of putting what has been learned to practice for students.  Holly has exhibited the desire to have her students put to practice what they have learned as well as to be competitive in representing Dorman High School .  She has given numerous hours beyond the classroom to make the Dorman debate program a respected program in the state.

 Holly started the debate team at Dorman High School in 1997 as an after-school club.  By the 1998-1999 school year she had written and taught the first two sections of competitive debate.  As interest has grown in the program she continues to teach competitive debate and to coach after-school groups at both the 9^th and 10^th-12^th grade campuses.   Because of novice and varsity levels of debate, she wrote the course description for varsity debate and has taught sections of that course since 2001. Dorman is the only Spartanburg school that has maintained a competitive speech team.  This is due to the efforts of Holly.

Over the years of competition, Dorman High School students have won numerous local awards and several state awards under her coaching.  In 2002 two Dorman High School students attended the National Forensic League National Tournament for the first time.

The participation of Dorman High School students in the debate competitions throughout the state has added to the level of this event.  Holly has been involved in coaching her students for the tournaments as well as serving as a debate judge during the competitions.  Her judging skills are respected by the students who have debated in front of her.

Because tournaments require teams to bring judges to each competition, Holly has recruited and trained adults – both other teachers and parents – to judge debate and other speech categories.

 And finally, Holly is respected by her coaching peers.  She has served on the South Carolina Forensic Coaches Association as secretary, and she has served on the South Carolina District committee as well.  Both of these positions require time beyond teaching and coaching to help with the State and District tournaments in the spring.  Dorman High School served as the host school for the 2003 State tournament.  Holly was a gracious host who efficiently prepared her school and staff for the event.  It is obvious that Holly takes pride in Dorman High School by the way she managed the facilities at the State tournament.

 For her efforts in the class room and in her extra curricular activities, Holly Hollifield well deserves Coach of the Month!

  Return to Home Page     Return to Coaches Page