Lindale High School teacher wins national award

LINDALE – Lindale High School Speech and Debate teacher, JP Fugler, was selected by the National Federation of High Schools as a recipient of the Outstanding Speech and Debate Educator Award. Fugler was one of only eight section award winners across the country out of the pool of nominees. “An award like this is never expected,” said Fugler. “When the Director of Speech and Debate at UIL called me in November to say that I was the Texas nominee, that alone was surprising. It still feels so early in my career to receive this kind of national attention for my teaching.”
The UIL selected Fugler as the Texas nominee for the award. NFHS will select a section winner for the eight sections across the country. Section six includes Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado.

“We are extremely proud and honored to have JP Fugler recognized by the NFHS as an outstanding Speech and Debate educator,” said Lindale High School Principal Jeremy Chilek. “He has been an integral part of our staff at LHS for the past nine years. JP is well respected on our campus and in our community as a transformational leader. We join others around the country in congratulating him for his outstanding service.”
A total of 59 individuals have been selected to receive Outstanding Performing Arts Educator Awards from the NFHS, including 25 with Outstanding Music Educator Awards, 23 with Outstanding Speech and Debate Educator Awards and 11 with Outstanding Theatre Awards. Since 1988 when the first Outstanding Speech/Debate/Theatre Educator Awards were presented, 262 individuals have received section awards and 428 have been honored with state awards.