More information about the Danville Forensics Team is at the team’s website, danville4n6.com. Team tryouts are Oct. 12 and Oct. 13.

Max Searcy knew he had found his dream job when he saw an opening for a dance and drama teacher at Edna L. Toliver Intermediate School, and he’s already loving his classes. The 2012 Danville High School graduate is also the new head coach of the Danville Schools Forensics Team. 

“Seeing this, it was like a perfect fit, absolutely, 100% aligned with my passions and my experience,” he said about the role at Toliver. 

Searcy plans to bring a focus on theater to his position at Toliver, since that is where a lot of his experience lies. As for the forensics head coach role, he was on the forensics team himself when he first came into the district as a student in 2010 until he graduated. He won state championships during his time on the team and has also been to national competitions. 

“I’m excited to take on and kind of rebuild this team because it’s definitely a high school tradition in Danville,” he said. “It’s got a lot of history. It’s actually the most-awarded, most-honored program the high school has, period.” 

He said he has great memories of being on the team and that he learned so much from Steve Meadows, who was his coach. Since Meadows is now the executive director of the Kentucky High School Speech League, Searcy is excited to learn even more from him in that role. 

Toliver Special Education Teacher Karen Tompkins will serve in an assistant coaching role, and there is a Centre student named Jenna Haines who graduated from DHS and has offered to spend some time watching students’ speech performances and offer advice. 

There are so many adults who have positive memories of the forensics team and want to help in any way they can, like offering feedback on student speech performances and serving in other capacities, Searcy said. The program means a lot to them. 

Searcy feels very supported in both new roles. 

“To have this kind of structure and support — the administration here is amazing,” he said. 

“Coming in as the head coach, I feel like I have so much support from outside of the program, and everyone involved wants it to flourish and is excited about it. And that’s what I try to communicate to the students as well.”