Meet Our Coaches

Head Coach: Kelli Rosenquist

Ms. Rosenquist is the Head Speech and Debate Coach at Flathead High School and a social studies teacher. She brings ten years of varsity coaching experience, having guided 47 national qualifiers, 25 All-State debaters, three state champions, and a World Schools team that placed 5th in the world.

For her, Speech and Debate was equivalent to competitive success, but it served a greater purpose. It helped shape her into a confident, thoughtful, and capable person. As a three-time national qualifier herself, she is deeply committed to helping students achieve academic and personal growth through this activity.

At Flathead, she is proud to continue a tradition of 24 state championships and 162 individual state titles, while fostering a supportive and growth-focused environment for all students. Ms. Rosenquist is on the Debate Committee and Education Committee for MHSA.

Outside of teaching and coaching, she enjoys backpacking, crocheting, reading, and skiing.

Interpretation

Susan Dykhuizen

Susan has been coaching Interp since 2016, but has have been helping the speech and debate team as well as taking on the responsibilty of parent group since her oldest son started participating in 2013.

Susan's coaching philosophy is to genuinely care for her students—listen to them, treat them fairly, feed them occasionally, and have lots of fun. It’s a journey not just a destination - this activity teaches one of the most important life skills to students—the ability to communicate.

Susan has been nominated for AA speech coach of the year in both 2024 and 2025. She has also coached multiple state champions and numerous national qualifiers in duo, dramatic and humorous Interp

"A friend once told me—' Prepare like it means everything. Compete like you are having fun and the winning usually takes care of itself.' "

Shannon Vitek

Shannon joined our team in 2024 as a coach, but has been involved in the speech and debate world at Flathead High since 2013 when she first began competing in Dramatic Interpretation - she competed from 2013-2017. From 2019-2023 Shannon participated in speech and debate as a judge for local tournaments before finally taking on an active coaching role. In her first year as a coach, Shannon coached two state champions as well as national qualifiers in both dramatic and duo interpretation.

As a coach, she makes it a point to create an environment that is welcoming and kind. Shannon is a firm believer that where there is no passion or joy, there will be no success. She encourages her students to have fun and find joy in their event - while also finding joy in competition and in striving to perform at the highest level of their abilities. She believes that as humans, we all underestimate ourselves; her goal as a coach is to show her students that they are capable of much more than they think they are.

Outside of coaching and working her day job as an orthodontic coordinator, Shannon runs her own freelance photography business. She can most often be found outside with her dogs and her husband - or in a local coffee shop creating art or editing photos!

Wyatt Dykhuizen

Wyatt Dykhuizen is a Flathead High School Speech and Debate alumni and is excited to be assisting Susan and Shannon V. with coaching the 2025-2026 Interp squad.

While unable to be a full-time member of this year's coaching staff, his primary goals are to refine speakers' scripts, choreography, and character work, in addition to helping create a safe and welcoming environment in which students can freely express themselves.

Debate

Kelli Rosenquist

Thomas Konopka

Mr. Konopka is in his third year of coaching Speech and Debate at Flathead High School, where he works with Policy and Lincoln-Douglas debaters. A former competitor himself, Thomas competed in a wide range of events throughout all four years of high school, including both short prep and multiple forms of debate - including public forum and congressional debate. During that time, he qualified for both the state and national tournaments, developing a strong foundation in argumentation, research, and public speaking.

As a coach, Mr. Konopka focuses on helping students develop the ability to clearly and concisely explain their ideas. He believes that Speech and Debate not only sharpens critical thinking and communication skills but also prepares students to engage thoughtfully with the world beyond competition. As a coach, he has coached multiple state-level competitors and has mentored many national qualifiers.

Outside of coaching, Mr. Konopka enjoys skiing, hockey, Formula 1, and spending time outdoors.

Ashley Kauffman

Ashley Kauffman is thrilled to begin her first year as an assistant Speech & Debate coach at Flathead High School.

Her coaching philosophy focuses on helping students build confidence, strengthen communication skills, express their thoughts clearly, and develop skills that will serve them beyond competitions.

When she is not coaching, Ms. Kauffman enjoys skiing, hiking, and finding a quiet place to read a good book. She looks forward to helping foster team spirit and inspiring the students to use the skills they develop to make a difference.

Nathan Stouffer

"My name is Nathan Stouffer but everyone calls me Stouff!"

Nathan is helping out with Lincoln-Douglas where he enjoys discussing different (and often opposing) philosophies. His favorite part of coaching is seeing the kids come up with original and cohesive arguments.

Outside of debate, he loves skiing and ultimate frisbee!

Memorized

Shannon O'Donnell

Shannon has coached for 22 years and is a member of the Montana speech coaches Hall of Fame. She served as the head coach in Butte for 6 years and then as an assistant coach at FHS for 3 years before taking a 10-year coaching hiatus.

As the head coach of Flathead High School, her teams placed second at the state tournament five times and won the state championship three times. She also served as an assistant coach at Flathead High School on two state champion teams.

Throughout her career, Shannon has coached ten state champions and nearly thirty national qualifiers. Additionally, Shannon is a 3-time Montana “Coach of the Year” and has received numerous recognitions from NSDA, including the 2019 Distinguished Service "Gold Key Award", the "Don Crabtree Distinguished Service" Bronze Plaque in 2022 and 2025, and the NSDA "Excellence in District Leadership Award.”

Sean O'Donnell

Sean O’Donnell is old. He is so old that he is now in his fifth decade of being a part of Flathead High School speech and debate.

After competing at both Flathead High School and Carroll College in speech and debate, he returned to Flathead High School to coach in 1996. Now entering his 30th year of coaching and 25th year of coaching at Flathead High School, he is the longest serving speech and debate coach in school history.

During that time, he has coached legislative and policy debate, as well as impromptu, extemp, oratory, and informative speaking. Throughout his coaching career, he has mentored thirty state champions, more than one hundred national qualifiers, and six national finalists in impromptu speaking. In 2007, one of the students trained by Mr. O’Donnell, Treza Hirsch, won the national championship in impromptu speaking.

Additionally, he has been a part of 11 state championship teams at Flathead High School. He is a three-time coach of the year and in 2020 was inducted into the Montana Forensics Hall of Fame.

Christopher Miller

Christopher Miller started his competitive speech journey as a 7th grader in small-town northern Minnesota, and ended it at a national tournament in Washington DC as a college senior. In those 10 years of experience, he found success in interpretation and public address events.

In 2001, he was a Minnesota State College tournament champion in Informative speaking. He qualified for three college national tournaments, and contributed to a team that took 10th in the nation.

During his time as a pastor, he delivered nearly a speech a week for 12 years. He was a volunteer coach for the speech and drama team in Bigfork for 3 years, and is now in his 3rd season with Flathead.

He believes that speech and debate is a wonderful way for students to learn how to share their passions with the world and to speak up for what they believe in.

Short Preparation

Scott O'Donnell

Scott O’Donnell has coached Extemporaneous and Impromptu speaking for 3 years, joining the Flathead staff in 2024.

He competed in Extemp and Impromptu through high school where he earned a state championship in Impromptu and qualified for the National tournament 3 times.

As a coach, Scott has helped coach 5 national qualifiers and 3 state finalists. Last year he received the District Assistant Coach of the Year award for Western Montana.

Kyla Niva

Kyla Niva has been coaching Speech and Debate at Flathead High School since 2012. Initially she started as an interpretation coach given her competition history as well as work in theatre.

She began her work in theatre at a young age in 1993, therefore her skills on and off the stage translated well to her work with duo, humorous, and dramatic interpretation. After three years, she transitioned to the short prep events as a coach for impromptu and extemporaneous speaking, where she has found her home. She has helped coach several state champions and national qualifiers. The Flathead High team has won the state title in 2015, 2020, and 2023.

In 2020 she was honored with the Friend of Forensics award from Glacier High School. Kyla also serves as the Kalispell Speech and Debate judge coordinator, recruiting and organizing the judge pool for all home tournaments since 2014. Additionally she takes an active role in the Montana Forensic Educators Association as a voting member in the governing body and chairing the Scholarship committee.

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