As the school year was coming to a close, The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) announced four Florida educators as winners of the Diamond Award including Sarah Beauchamp of McArthur High School. Just last month, all the award winners were recognized during the Donus D. Roberts Diamond Assembly at the world’s largest academic competition, The National Speech & Debate Tournament, in Dallas, Texas.
The Diamond Award recognizes a professional career that combines excellence and longevity in speech and debate education. It is open to all speech and debate coaches and educators. To be a candidate to earn the prestigious award, a coach must be a member of the National Speech & Debate Association for at least five years and earn a certain number of points determined through team participation, student achievement, public service, and leadership work.
“Coaches earn additional awards with more points earned in the Honor Society. A coach who attains 1,500 points is awarded a first diamond; they receive a second diamond for 3,000 points, a third for 6,000 points, and so on. Five years must pass between each Diamond Award,” explained Grace Rogers of the National Speech and Debate Association.
This was Beauchamp’s first Diamond Award from the NSDA. Prior to this distinctive award, she received The Mary Schick Service Award by the South Florida Chapter of the Catholic Forensic League. The esteemed educator started her teaching career in Pittsburgh, PA and has been teaching students for seventeen years, with eleven at Hollywood’s notable high school. She has been coaching debate for six years and currently has earned 2,742.50 NSDA coaching points during this time.
“Our Diamond Award winners provide access to the life-changing benefits of speech and debate for thousands of students,” said National Speech & Debate Association Director J. Scott Wunn. “We are proud to recognize these educators for their service and thank them for their hard work.”
The National Speech & Debate Association is the largest interscholastic speech and debate organization serving middle school, high school, and collegiate students in the United States. The Association provides competitive speech and debate activities, high-quality resources, comprehensive training, scholarship opportunities, and advanced recognition to more than 150,000 students and coaches every year. For 90 years, the National Speech & Debate Association has empowered more than 1.5 million members to become engaged citizens, skilled professionals, and honorable leaders in our society.