The coaching staff of the Plymouth High School Speech and Debate team will spend the long Labor Day weekend parking cars as thousands of visitor pour into Plymouth for the annual Blueberry Festival. Both the coaches and students have spent the last week, along with other PHS club members , installing fences, putting up directional signs, recruiting and organizing volunteers, and coordinating with the Blueberry Festival Committee to prepare for event that is largest fundraiser for the teams and clubs. If the crowds are equal to past years, they could be parking some 9,000 cars.
When the idea of the parking fundraiser started in 1984, the profits helped support the Speech and Debate Team, Choir and the Cheerleader Squad. Although the amount of planning and long hours involved seems daunting, being able to raise a large portion of the ever increasing amount of money it takes to support extracurricular activities makes it worthwhile.
No one knows better what it takes to support a team than now Assistant Speech Coach, Dan Tyree. Tyree started the first team in the 1979-1980 school year and continued coaching until he moved into administration as an assistant principal at PHS, assistant superintendent, and finally retiring as superintendent of the Plymouth Schools. Even after 18 years of being out of a coaching position, he is excited about being a part of the staff again. Tyree said, “When I retired in July, my wife Charlotte and I had a wonderful time together. When she returned to teaching during the day and coaching at night, I knew it would be perfect to coach with her in the activity that I always loved.” Charlotte Tyree coached at Wawasee High School from 1984-1992 and is now starting her 27th year at PHS. Is the school’s liaison to the Blueberry Festival Committee as well.
However, the coaching staff has a number of other family connections.
In 2000, Tyree handed over the Head Coach position to his brother-in-law David McKenzie. McKenzie came to PHS after coaching three years at Oak Hill High School, one year at Wabash High School, and 12 years at Northfield High School. His wife, Sarah, had coached with him at Northfield and , after taking four years off to be with their children at home, returned not only to teaching at Lincoln Junior High, but also became their head Speech Coach. She is now teaching at PHS. David McKenzie said, “It is a blessing to be able to be with my wife and children. We can all be together doing something we all enjoy.”
All of their children , including Katie, Nancy and Jon Tyree and Emily and Trent McKenzie started going with their parents to speech and debate meets as infants and all joined the teams when they were in junior high school and competed all through high school. Nancy Tyree is beginning her fifth year as an assistant coach at PHS. She said, “Speech and Debate has been a family tradition for me. My parents always took us with them to speech practices and meets.” She added, “I used to be the youngest person watching in any round of competition. I competed for years and I’m now coaching, I’ve seen every side of it.”
Emily McKenzie was able to help coach for one year before transferring to Ball State University this year. Trent McKenzie is a senior at PHS and has already been a national qualifier in Congress. He said watching his cousins compete was a big part of his life. Trent said, “My favorite time of the school year is when Plymouth hosts the John Oliver Tournament.”
Assistant Coaches Dylan Connor and Sydney Luce are engaged. Connor teaches English and Theatre for the Weidner School of Inquiry and Luce is with the Argos Community Schools.
Nathan Wilson, math teacher at PHS, will be joining the staff as an assistant coach for debate. Also volunteering to help in the debate area will be PHS Assistant Principal, Ken Olson.
McKenzie said it is worth every minute of working with kids in the Speech and Debate program. He said, “We watch them becoming poised and professional in the way they compete and interact with competitors from other schools, their judges in competition, and other adults.” “It is also great training in learning to handle criticism since judges write critiques on every ballot.” He said.
Carol Anders Correspondent
