After a nine year break from coaching, Tara Tate, Social Studies teacher, returned to the position of Debate Director last month.

Tate had previously stepped down from the role in 2014 following her pregnancy, but when the previous Debate Director, Alyssa Corrigan, left South late last school year, Tate assumed the position of Interim Debate Director. Last month, Tate officially became the Debate Director.

“[I] had no intention of coming back, but debate [is] in my blood,” Tate said. “My mom was my high school debate coach, and [I] just fell in love with it.”

While Interim Debate Director, Tate realized she could maintain a work-life balance that she could not have when her daughter was younger.

“I felt good with [debate] kids and I was at a place in my personal life [where] I could find balance,” Tate said.

Tate brings extensive experience to the Debate Program, having debated in high school, coached and competed in college, and directed at South from 2003 to 2014. Following Tate’s return, Congress debater senior Sarina Harjani has noticed a positive change to the Debate Program.

“Tate really encourages people to compete,” Harjani said. “Now that she’s back, more opportunities are being opened up for competitive debaters who want to compete at a national level.”

Winning the All-American College Debate Award, an award given to the top college debaters in the United States by the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) and the National Educational Debate Association (NEDA), both junior and senior year of college has given Tate an abundance of experience in the position, she said.

In addition to bringing in more opportunities, Tate keeps debaters grounded and focused, policy debater junior Anu Khishore said.

“Tate brings a team vibe that we didn’t really have before,” Khishore said. “We [are] a lot more competitively focused. It’s obvious she really cares about us, which helps us feel comfortable taking risks [and] inspires us to always put in the work.”