I started my career in coaching on the high school level. I actually got into this by mistake. One of my students asked me to enter her and another girl in a contest. The next year I had to stay on as a coach. After two years, I was hired at Ardmore Middle School.

The difference between the high school level and the middle school level is like the difference between day and night. One of the things that has kept me coaching on the middle school level is that the kids are not afraid to try anything. They will try new things and will listen to you better than the high school student. It is much easier to convince the middle school students to do something a certain way.

In debate, middle school students start with the basics. It is so much fun to take them through very basic to more advanced skills. The first two or three contests, they usually do not do very well, but they will not give up. After that, they will even try extemp and acting. The only problem is that they want to do every event at a contest and you must taper their desire without killing it.

They are so excited to take trips. They don't enter to win, but to have fun. I had an experience in June that actually kept me coaching one more year. We just came from a very disappointing day at nationals in Houston, Texas. We were in a state of shock and very down. Our team meeting that night turned out to be something very special as each student and adult took their turn and expressed what they had learned and how they felt. One young lady got up and started to shake. She broke into tears and her teammates raced to her to hold her. She said that before she joined the team she had no real friends and now she had a whole bunch of folks who loved and believed in her. Boy, that was a neat experience I had as a coach!

The younger student will open up. I had parents calling me to ask what had happened on the trip. I told them to ask their children, but told them that it was very special for all of us. It has changed lives and believe it or not, they have stayed changed for the better.

If I had been asked to write this last year, I would have said that the drawback at least in the state of Oklahoma was that we could not go to a state competition. Now after that experience, I have no problem. The program on the middle school level in my state is worth the time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears. I see it changing not only the kids' lives but mine as well. It is a great experience to be a middle school coach. Try it. It will give you much more than you ever give it. I am proud of being on this level and for my membership in NJFL.