UPDATES

Friday, July 26th, 2024

Hello returning DEFT members. My name is Grant Thomas, and I am the new Program Director of Speech and Debate at Denver East! I’ve had the privilege of meeting several of you at Nationals in June or at various local tournaments the last several years. For those of you who I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet, let me introduce myself. 

This will be my 14th year coaching, and my 10th year as a head coach. For the past 8 years I have worked as the Head Coach at SMART High School (formerly STRIVE Prep - SMART). I am the Chair of the Rocky Mountain South National Qualifying District and am an Executive Board Member of the NIETOC. 

Being the Head Coach at Denver East is a dream position for me. I’m so excited to hit the ground running. I, along with the entire DEFT coaching staff (Nawledge, Katie, Noah, Lydia, and others), have already been hard at work preparing for a fun and highly successful season ahead. To that end, I am excited to announce that DEFT will be attending the Yale Invitational in New Haven, Connecticut on September 18-22nd. Auditions will be required for those interested in attending the tournament. 

Interp, OO, and INF students interested in attending the Yale trip are welcome to email me (GRANT_THOMAS@dpsk12.net) before the start of classes to begin work on cutting pieces and writing speeches. Extempers, look for a message from Rae Tatel about coaching sessions with outside coach Peter Alisky. Debaters can expect an email from me in early August when the NSDA announces the September/October topic that will be used at Yale and at all the novice tournaments in Colorado this October. 

More information will be coming as we approach the start of school. Including the Parent Meeting for returning DEFT members on the evening of August 29th. Until then, please check out the team website for the complete season schedule and more. 

Website: https://deftangels.org/

Best, 

Grant Thomas 

Director of Speech and Debate