Flathead High School speech coach wins Assistant Coach of the Year
Mar. 7—Flathead High School's Scott O'Donnell was selected as Assistant Coach of the Year for the Montana West District of the National Speech and Debate Association.
He will be up for the National Assistant Coach of the Year, which will be awarded during the national speech and debate tournament in June.
Scott O'Donnell said the award means a lot and is validation that the work he's doing is making an impact.
"It's one of those of those things as a teacher you don't always know if you're doing good for kids. As a coach, it's proof I did something for a community I care about. It's really an honor. There are so many coaches out there who deserve it and put in so much time and effort," he said.
Nominated by fellow Flathead speech and debate coach, teaching colleague and father, Sean O'Donnell described him as an enthusiastic coach.
"Like many coaches, Scott brings enthusiasm to every practice and tournament and deeply believes in speech and debate. However, his greatest strength is his recognition that we do speech and debate not for trophies, but for the way it changes lives every single day," Sean O'Donnell stated in the nomination letter.
A 2020 Flathead graduate, Scott O'Donnell coaches the same short prep events he competed in as a student — extemporaneous speaking and impromptu speaking — for the junior varsity squad. It is his first year coaching at Flathead and he previously coached the Hellgate High School team for three years while attending college.
"These are the events I have the most experience in and I want to pass on that knowledge to the next generation of competitors," he said.
Sean O'Donnell noted his special skillset in drawing out the talent of "highly independent" albeit "rascally boys."
"Beyond competitive success, one of Scott's cornerstone beliefs is that speech and debate will help competitors become better people," Sean O'Donnell said.
"Scott's special talent is that he is able to corral these students to be within the guideposts of good behavior, while still allowing them the independence to find joy in the activity. Both at Flathead and at Hellgate, he has developed the relationships to help those students grow and mature, a gift that will help them for years to come," he noted.
Scott was also described as an innovator who thinks outside the box when helping individual students find success.
"There is no question that Scott O'Donnell's students have had a tremendous amount of success. In his first three years at Hellgate High School, he took a nearly non-existent short prep squad and made it one of the more competitive squads in the state. For the past two years, Maxime Diaz has consistently been a finalist in extemporaneous speaking and was a 2024 NSDA (National Speech and Debate Association) qualifier in extemporaneous speaking. This year, the two students from Flathead that Scott worked with the most extensively were respectively the highest-placing finalists in extemporaneous and impromptu speaking at state.
"Although a young coach, he is already making his mark on the competitive success of his squads," Sean O'Donnell said.
Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Cleanup underway after 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaks in Baltimore marina
BALTIMORE, Md. () — Emergency crews in Baltimore are working to clean up a spill after about 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked in Harbor East. Maryland officials said the incident happened around 11 a.m. on June 4, when fuel began leaking from the Johns Hopkins Hospital's facility in East Baltimore. Nearly two hours later, the Baltimore City Fire Department was dispatched to a marina in Harbor East. While investigating the spill, officials learned that the fuel began leaking into the marina from the facility, which was about 1.3 miles away. Around 100 firefighters respond to Northwest DC house fire As of Wednesday afternoon, the spill was contained in the marina at the South Central Avenue Bridge. The Maryland Department of the Environment said the water was stained red because of the dye in the oil. Officials noted that it will not impact drinking water in the area. More than 10 agencies across Maryland have been called to help contain the spill. Officials said the U.S. Coast Guard and a private contractor are working to clear the oil from the water by using oil absorbent materials and skimmers that will feed into a 4,000-gallon pump truck. During a press conference on Thursday morning, officials said several geese were removed from the water and taken to a wildlife rehab center. 'We are going to do everything in our power to restore the area as quickly as possible without compromising public safety,' said Mayor Scott. As cleanup efforts continue, traffic will be disrupted, and Central Avenue to Fleet Street will be closed. Check for updates. To keep up with the latest news and weather updates, download our Mobile App on iPhone or Android. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
4 days ago
- The Hill
Migrant DHS accused of threatening Trump was framed: Prosecutors
A Wisconsin inmate is facing charges over allegations he forged threatening letters against President Trump in an effort to frame a potential witness in an upcoming criminal trial and get him deported before he could testify. Demetric Deshawn Scott was charged on Monday with identity theft, bail jumping and felony intimidation of a witness, according to a court filing. Prosecutors say Scott is responsible for several letters sent to U.S. officials that included threats to kill the president and ICE agents. The letters purported to be from Ramón Morales Reyes, whose name and return address were written in blue ink on each letter. 'The letters were all handwritten and, although not exactly the same, all wrote about immigration policy and threatening to kill ICE agents or President Donald Trump. Those letters also appeared to be written by the same person,' prosecutors said in the filing. Morales Reyes was arrested by ICE agents, and his arrest was publicized online by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which posted his image as well as one of the letters. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also issued a statement describing him as an 'illegal alien' and said he would remain in custody 'pending his removal proceedings.' 'We are tired of this president messing with us Mexicans — we have done more for this count[r]y than you white people — you have been deporting my family and I think it is time Donald Trump get what he has coming to him,' one of the letters read, according to prosecutors. 'I will self deport myself back to Mexico but not before I use my 30 yard 6 to shoot your precious president in his head – I will see him at one of his big rall[ie]s' But, prosecutors say, after Morales Reyes was taken into custody, it soon became clear he could not have written the letters. Morales Reyes required translation assistance during the interview because he 'does not read, write, or fluently speak English.' Officials also compared a handwriting sample from Morales Reyes to the letter and there was no match. According to the court filing, investigators asked Morales Reyes, through a translator, who would want to get him 'in trouble.' Morales Reyes said the only person would be Scott, who was facing charges for robbing Morales Reyes. Investigators later listened to several calls from jail where Scott allegedly described plans to frame Morales Reyes.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Democrat Pulls off Epic Win in South Carolina Special Election
The Democratic candidate in a South Carolina special election swept to a landslide victory Tuesday night, becoming the youngest person elected to the state legislature in nearly a decade. Keishan Scott, 24, was elected to the state House to represent South Carolina's 50th district, which encompasses Lee County and parts of Kershaw and Sumter counties. He won just under 71 percent of the nearly 3,700 votes cast, beating his Republican opponent by about 41 percentage points. It's not entirely surprising that a Democrat won the district. Scott was running to replace Democratic Representative Will Wheeler, who shockingly announced his resignation in January right after winning a fifth term. The big shock comes from how handily Scott beat his opponent. Wheeler ran unopposed in four of his five elections, but the one year he had a Republican opponent (2022), Wheeler won by about 20 points—half of Scott's victory margin. Kamala Harris won the district by only about five points in the November election, and Joe Biden won the district by 15 points in 2020. Scott pledged to capitalize on his overwhelming support. 'I can promise you that every day I go into the Statehouse, I will carry the people with me,' he said in a victory speech. 'Because certainly, it's about people more than politics.' 'Your vote of confidence, it means the world to me,' he added. U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn, a fellow South Carolina Democrat, had endorsed Scott ahead of the race and stressed that the special election was a must-win for the liberal party. Electing Scott 'will be the beginning of a Democratic comeback here in South Carolina,' said Clyburn, whose endorsement was critical for turning around Biden's struggling 2020 campaign. 'Irrespective of where you live, how old you may be, whatever gender you may be, this is about the future of Democrats in South Carolina.' Scott's victory is a welcome morale boost for the state Democratic Party. Republicans currently hold a supermajority in the state House, with 88 seats to Democrats' now 36.
