Anna Carmon, IUPUC professor and director of the college’s communication studies program, has been named the Hoosier Heartland District National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) Coach of the Year for her work with the Columbus East High School Speech Team during the 2020-21 season. The district includes 13 high schools across the state ranging from Evansville to West Lafayette.
Carmon received the award not only for her coaching, which helped lead Columbus East to its most successful year in team history, qualifying four students for the national tournament, but also for her work assisting the Hoosier Heartland District in navigating the technology challenges of a completely virtual season.
Carmon, who never participated on a speech team in high school or college, had never thought about coaching until Matt Rothrock, an IUPUC colleague, approached her more than 10 years ago to ask her to edit a student’s speech. Carmon not only edited the speech, but asked if she could attend practice and coach the student as well.
She’s been attending Columbus East practices ever since.
In addition to coaching with Rothrock at Columbus East, the two serve as tournament hosts for an annual high school tournament that has been historically held on the campus of IUPUC each December.
In 2020, the event was conducted virtually and included more than 125 students from across the state. For many schools, it was their first virtual tournament, and Carmon was instrumental in helping them to participate in the online environment.
