Wisconsin Forensics Daily

Thursday Thing to Read: Running for the NFL Council

When I attended my first NFL National Tournament in 2001, I had the epiphany to become a teacher. I witnessed firsthand what forensics – and in a greater sense, education – could do for young people. After eleven years of coaching and a number of surreal successes, my greatest thrills still come from guiding students who work the hardest just to muster up enough strength to overcome a fear of speaking.

We exist in a world rife with frustration over accountability and funding in our education system. This is a world where budget cuts eliminate programs, coach retirements give way to staffing cuts, or attrition finds few wishing to dedicate inexhaustible energy that has characterized legions of coaches before. As an urban public school educator, I have several speech and theatre classes that have ballooned to 38 students. That’s in addition to coaching extra-curricular forensics, directing plays and volunteering with school and professional committees. The NFL Council can be a voice of advocacy for our discipline and should leverage the wonderful partnerships we make to continue to communicate that objective. The NFL has a promising future of endowments and growth, but we must not lose sight of our existing constituency of coaches “in the trenches” and the students they serve.

I can bring fresh energy to the Council, coupled with a decade of experience coaching every event the NFL offers, while working within an Urban Debate League framework and juggling the challenges of fundraising and traveling. I have also worked in a public relations firm, as a legislative assistant, and as a board member of a local professional theatre company; therefore, I understand how nonprofits work, and how to network to get things done.

As I complete my three-year term as president of one of the several leagues in Wisconsin, I worked to build consensus despite a history of contentious differences. When we merged two state debate tournaments under one banner, the unity of an activity lagging in numbers contributed to growth in participation and pooling of resources. My purpose in any forensic leadership positions I have held in the past eight years is the same: maximizing opportunities for the most children as well as eroding egos of old to make way for cooperation anew. Most importantly I listen: to coaches and students.

Thank you for considering my candidacy,
Adam J. Jacobi – Rufus King HS – Milwaukee, WI

Posted in Columns, Thursday Thing To Read |