At the National Debate Coaches Association National Championships, held April 14-16, the National Debate Coaches Association (NDCA) awarded Jesuit debate coach, Dr. Tracy McFarland, the National Educator of the Year award.
The National Educator of the Year award, typically given to retired coaches, was given to Dr. McFarland because of her tremendous work and dedication to not only the Jesuit debate team but also to the debate community as a whole. Unlike most other coaches in the country, Dr. McFarland teaches government, international relations, and comparative politics classes at Jesuit in addition to her coaching duties.
When it comes to debate, Dr. McFarland works tirelessly to improve the Jesuit debaters, meeting with them three days a week after school and in free- periods. But the commitment doesn’t stop there. McFarland also accompanies debate teams to local tournaments for nearly every weekend each month that take place from August until May.
At these events, Dr. McFarland has become one of the most preferred judges because of her fairness, objectivity, knowledge of debate, and vast experience which stems from years of debating and coaching debate. She clearly, as James Mantil ’12 noted, “is willing to deal with all types of students, and she loves her job.”
Dr. McFarland also contributes to the debate community outside of Jesuit.
For a large portion of the summer, Dr. McFarland heads up the policy program of the University of North Texas’ “Mean Green” summer camp workshops. Essentially, Dr. McFarland instructs hundreds of other debaters on their skills and techniques for 2-4 week sessions.
Tanner Davis ’13 remarked on McFarland’s widespread involvement, saying, “She has literally put her heart and soul into debate. She works tirelessly to make each one of us hone our skills in our own unique way. But even more, her work with debate extends beyond the Jesuit community; her work with the UDL lies as a testament to how even teachers represent the motto of men and women for others.”
Dr. McFarland serves as Vice President of Programming on the Board of Directors for the Dallas Urban Debate Alliance, a non-profit that brings debate to DISD schools as a part of the national urban debate league movement.
Whether she is giving last minute coaching sessions before a debate, or serving the greater debate community, Dr. McFarland truly deserves the recognition she has been given by the NDCA. As Trent McRae ’15 remarked, “There isn’t just one thing she did; it was all the things she did to earn it.”
Jeff Melsheimer ’14 went on to point out a truly distinguishing characteristic that Dr. McFarland possesses: “T-Mac is not just looking to help me improve my debating skills. She also advances my growth as a person. She always wants to make sure that we fully understand things so we can be enriched intellectually. She is a great person, a great educator, and a great coach.”
As a debater myself, I can testify to how much time and effort Dr. McFarland puts in to the debate program and the debate
community. With the help of Coach Dan Lingel, Dr. McFarland has trained Jesuit debaters for the past decade to compete at the highest level in the nation.
Everyone in the debate community knows Dr. McFarland, and debaters from other schools always say hello when they pass her in the hallway and want to see how she is doing. Dr. McFarland has earned an incredible amount of respect from the debate community and has established close relationships with other debaters the Jesuit team comes into contact with.
Kevin Kim ’12 reflected on the three years of debate that he spent under McFarland’s wing, saying “In everything she does she deserves that award. Not only for the way she teaches but how she teaches as well. I think the defining characteristic between a good and a great teacher/educator/coach is if the students know that the coach cares about us as persons as well as students. “T-Mac” definitely does.”
A sample of some of the nominating comments.
http://www.jesuitcp.org/Page.aspx?pid=385
