Debate Coach Greg Malis Inducted into the Gold Key Society

[FULL STORY]

Newman math teacher and debate coach Greg Malis was recently inducted into the prestigious Gold Key Society of the Barkley Forum. In January 2013, Malis and his wife and co-coach Alma Nicholson took the School’s debate team to Emory University in Atlanta to compete in the Barkley Forum for High Schools.The debaters performed exceedingly well, but it was Malis who received the highest distinction that weekend; on January 25, he was inducted as the newest member of the Gold Key Society in a ceremony that opened the weekend of competition.

Malis first began coaching Newman’s debate team when he started teaching at the school in 1996. Before that, he taught and coached at Clark High School in San Antonio, Texas. In 2002, he accepted a job at his alma mater, Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois. Nine years later, in 2011, he returned to Newman, and he and Nicholson began to rebuild the School’s debate program.

Since his return, the Newman debaters have made their mark in competition after competition. Currently, seven debaters and competitive speakers have qualified to compete in the Tournament of Champions for the Louisiana High School Speech League at Mount Carmel Academy in April. Two debaters, Matthew Meyer ’14 and Tiffen McAllister ’13, have qualified for the National Tournament of Champions.

For Malis, induction into the Gold Key Society is a great honor. “When I was a student and competed at this tournament in 1989, I was in awe of the men and women who were Key Coaches. They were the giants of the activity,” he said. He was jubilant when he received the news of the honor. “Alma can verify that I was jumping up and down in the hallway,” he said. At the same time, Malis is careful to point out that the honor is not his alone. “Good coaching is more about setting a high bar for work ethic, commitment to the activity, and behavior than it is about specific suggestions about arguments, strategy, style, or performance. I have received this honor because I have had enough students that have met those standards. It is a reflection on their effort and abilities,” he said. He also credits his colleagues, the other high school coaches: “It is also a reflection on my colleagues – from those who have been past recipients to those that have never had the opportunity to attend this tournament – who challenge us to continue our high expectations in order to remain competitive with their programs.”

Malis is the second Newman coach to receive this honor. The first was veteran coach and former Newman teacher Daryl Fisher, who was inducted in 1984. As part of the ceremony, Malis received a large gold key, which now hangs on the wall of his classroom. Please join us in congratulating Greg Malis for his historic accomplishment and for reinvigorating the debate program at Newman.