Miller puts time, energy into teaching debate

Derby High sophomore Kya Nethercot, a 21st Century Journalism student, wrote this as part of her final project.

Hours drag by as he scans dozens of articles scavenging for morsels of information that might help his debaters. Lynn Miller, the Derby High School debate and forensics coach, spends much of his free time working to improve the team.

“When I was in debate, Miller was working all the time,” Kenzie Nethercot said. “He spent weekends at tournaments, Wednesdays at practices, it was a lot of time.

Miller is widely known for his exhaustive work on debate, but what does he do? What is he researching so incessantly? The list is extensive to say the least.

From the actions of every individual representative before the midterm elections to the intricate inner workings of international relations to the fundamental similarities between humans and animals Miller studies it all.

“I’ll jokingly ask Miller a question, and he’ll have an answer,” Jack Sallman said. “Sometimes it makes me concerned, usually I’m in awe. Why does he know that?”

He has smatterings of information on every topic imaginable surprise his students every day. No matter how strange or obscure it seems, Miller researches these issues for a reason.

The policy and big question debate topics change yearly, and the Lincoln Douglas debate topic does so monthly. These new research topics force him to regularly shift his focus.

“It’s really hard for us to pick up a completely new idea and research it and debate it,” Brianna Hassell said. “Miller does all of this to give us a foundation to study off of so that we can be successful.”

Miller spends roughly 20 hours a week working on debate outside of class during the week not including class time and varsity debate practice on Wednesdays. He says that he is dedicated to working on this to encourage students to be politically involved and to teach them how to analyze and understand information.

“Mr. Miller is one of those guys who is always working, always thinking, and always caring,” Daniel Archer said. “He gives each one of his students a great chance to win debates as well as being a mentor and father figure to some. His endless knowledge in debate has gave Derby debate the lift it needs to be competitive in the national circuit.”

The program has grown exponentially since Miller took over as the coach. His original goal was only to make his students successful enough to qualify for the Debate Coaches Invitational (DCI) tournament, but he has far surpassed that goal.

Within the last few years, his students have qualified for DCI, been to nationally regarded tournaments, and have become competitive regionally.

“I am so proud that I got to nationals, and Miller is really how I got here,” Sallman said.

Miller’s work with each student has allowed many to qualify for state and nationals in speech and debate events. This year, the team even saw two freshman qualify for nationals on the World Schools team.

Sallman and Jackson (Bella) Davis both spent hours working individually with Miller to get so far. His dedication is regarded by all of his students, and they take great pride in having him as a coach.

“We couldn’t have gone anywhere without Miller,” Hassel said. “I’m so glad we have him.”