Ruth McAllister is the coach of the largest NFL school in South Carolina.  Riverside High School distinguished itself in the 2001-2002 season by accumulating over 300 membership degrees.  Ruth is one of the three coaches in SC that has Triple Diamond status in the NFL.

Click here to go to the Riverside Forensic page.

The following article is from the Greenville News, Monday, January 6, 2002.   

	Posted Monday, January 6, 2003 - 5:59 pm e-mail this story to a friend   PROFILE •Name: Ruth McAllister •Hometown: Fulton, Ky.; lives in Greer •Family: Husband, James; son, James; daughter, Melanie Johnson •Church: Aldersgate United Methodist •School: Riverside High, teaches competitive public speaking and advanced senior English; speech and debate coach •Teaching experience: 33 years, 18 at Riverside •Education: Bachelor's degree, University of Tennessee; master's, University of Memphis •Achievements: Outstanding Advisor Award, 2002 Youth in Government state conference; former Riverside Teacher of the Year State conference recognizes McAllister's efforts Scott Keeler CITY PEOPLE WRITER skeeler@greenvillenews.com Although Ruth McAllister's teaching career spans more than three decades, perhaps her greatest individual recognition came just last month. At the statewide Youth in Government Conference in Columbia, McAllister was named the South Carolina Outstanding Advisor. Under McAllister's leadership, Riverside High School's Youth in Government delegation also was named Premier Delegation in the state. More than 1,000 high school students from around South Carolina took part the event. Riverside has participated in the state conference for 14 years and usually has the largest delegation there, according to McAllister. This year, 130 Riverside students participated, and there could have been more. Riverside's speech and debate team, whose members attend the Youth in Government events, has a total of 240 students. The forensics program has become such a popular one at Riverside that participation has been limited to students who have taken or are currently taking McAllister's Introduction to Competitive Speech and Debate class. "We take approximately one-tenth of our school, and it is the cream of our crop," said McAllister. At the Youth in Government state meeting, students write their own bills and prepare to debate them. They hold proceedings in the Statehouse in Columbia. "We usually have a number of the state dignitaries drop by to speak to students, and it gives them a wonderful, hands-on experience in learning how our government works, and also how the political process works. That political angle is something we cannot give them in normal tournament experience," McAllister said. The Riverside High forensics team's success has not been limited to South Carolina competitions. They've traveled to colleges such as Harvard University and Wake Forest University as well. "Last year, we won the Wake Forest National Early Bird tournament, which is quite an accomplishment," McAllister said. "It's a major, national-level tournament with students from literally all over the country." Riverside hasn't placed below sixth in the last five years of the Wake Forest tournament. Last year, the team finished sixth at the three-day Harvard tournament, which McAllister describes as "probably the best competition in congressional debates in the country." Riverside High principal Andrew Crowley says Riverside's success in Youth in Government events is something in which the school can take pride. "The forensics team and Ruth exemplify everything that's good about Riverside. They dedicate themselves to discipline and hard work," Crowley said. "She goes way above and beyond the call of duty with those kids." McAllister takes particular pride in the number of former students who have gone on to political or public service careers. "Some of the stronger debate schools in the Upstate, like T.L. Hanna, Southside and Riverside, probably could populate the entire state with lawyers. If I ever get in any legal trouble, I will be well-defended I feel sure," McAllister said. "I'm blessed with wonderful leaders," she said. In fact, one of these days, she predicted, "we will be deciding which one of them will be governor of this state." City People writer Scott Keeler can be reached at 298-4270.