Outstanding Forensics Coach of the Year (2009)

The Oklahoma Speech Theatre Communications Association has named Brad Swygard as the H.B. Mitchell Outstanding Forensics Coach of 2009.  Swygard is the forensics coach at American Christian School.   Nominations encompass all divisions (3A-6A) of speech, theatre and debate teams, consisting of 150 active coaches in the state of Oklahoma.  Coaches are nominated by their peers, and one outstanding coach is named yearly.  

Swygard’s tireless efforts have led the ACS Speech and Debate Team to establish an outstanding record among all Oklahoma speech and debate teams.  Though his team is young (it was started in the fall of 2000 with only five students), Swygard has coached an ACS state finalist every year since the team’s inception.   The ACS Speech and Debate team won the state championship in 2008, 2009 and 2010, with second and third place standings the previous two years. 

The ACS Speech and Debate team qualified for the National Forensics League Nationals Tournament six times in 2008 and 2009 combined.   In order to qualify for nationals, ACS students competed against all divisions (3A-6A) in their district, which includes the entire eastern half of Oklahoma.  Though they normally compete with their same division (3A) in the state competition, their competition with 6A schools at Districts has truly proven the team’s value. Without Swygard’s leadership, this unheard-of success would not be possible.  Swygard believes he is blessed with great kids.  He often quips, “I’m just a bus driver.  All I do is drive them to the tournaments, and they do the rest.  I also have a great assistant coach in Miss Sarah Eppinger.”

A retired high-school and college competitor himself, Swygard believes that teaching students skills necessary for speech and debate  is a critical element in Christian Classical education:  “The Bible encourages us in Proverbs 16:21 to know what to say and how to say it.   Just think how much our mouths would be instructed and how much learning would be added to our lips if we practiced 500 verbal free throws a day.  This is what forensics competition does.   The Holy Spirit says learning to speak well is part of wisdom.   Learning to speak with a Christian worldview is both Christian and Classical.” Thanks to his enthusiasm and ability to promote success, 50% of ACS students compete in speech and debate.

Pastor Brad Swygard received his Bachelor of Arts with a major in Political Science and a minor in Philosophy from West Texas State University.  He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Dallas Theological Seminary with a Th.M. in Apologetics.  He pastors Grace Baptist Church in Bartlesville. Pastor Swygard began teaching at ACS in the spring of 2000.  He currently teaches Rhetoric II and Apologetics.  He loves teaching the students things that will change their lives.  He and his wife, Jeanette, have three children.  Joel and John are students at ACS, and Sarah is an ACS alumnus. For a small school such as ACS, big results are truly possible with dedicated faculty and staff like Swygard.