Expertise:
-
Basics, teaching students the basic structure of policy debate and congress as well as basic strategies for both
-
Judge Adaptation, helping students understand what judges need from a competitor
-
Argument Intersection, assisting students to effectively use intersecting ideas to win debate and congress rounds
-
Truth, listening to students’ stories and helping them build arguments from that truth
Accolades of students Sarah has worked with...
-
39 state medalists in 2A Texas UIL state speech and debate since 2007
-
2A Texas UIL policy debate champions 2017
-
2A Texas UIL LD state champions 2017
-
2A Texas UIL Congress champions 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Sandra Peek Lincoln Douglas Debate
Short Bio: I am a speech alumnus of Dulles High School in Sugarland, Texas, and a past debater for Texas Tech. After graduation and marriage, my husband and I decided that we would prefer to live in a rural area and moved. Once my youngest child was old enough, I started my school’s first speech program and have been coaching speech and debate in rural East Texas ever since. During those years, I have built the program into one of the largest small school programs in Texas. I have coached all individual events as well as debate. I particularly enjoy working with students from communities that traditionally do not have access to speech and debate.
Coaching Philosophy:
Successful debaters and speakers find the truth and speak that truth. Debate events rightly focus on strategy, but strategy should never replace communication of truth. Every debate resolution or piece of congressional legislation has a truth—which if correctly communicated— can be a winning position. The trick is to find and communicate that truth. When prepping a topic for any type of debate, two types of knowledge are critical to communicating the truth in a way that wins rounds. First, students must understand the actual mechanics of the event. Second, students must develop a deep understanding of the nexus issue within the debate content. As I coach, I focus my efforts on building both types of knowledge. Students who work with me can expect significant guidance on building strategic arguments and coaching focused on how to effectively communicate those arguments.