Christensen named to Forensics Hall of Fame

Longtime Columbia Falls High School English teacher Michael Christensen was recently named to the Montana State Forensics Educators Association Hall of Fame.

Christensen has been a coach with the school’s winning speech and debate team from 1990 to 2010. The team won 10 state Class A championships in those two decades.

Head coach for seven of those state titles and nine divisional titles as well, Christensen credits the students for the program’s success.

“The kids built this program and made it a family,” he said last week. “I guess I’m the grandpa.”

But Christensen said he also had a lot of staff support over the years. Former school activities director John Thompson was a big help, as were former Columbia Falls speech coach Harold Tusler and Anne Sullivan, the coach at Bozeman High School when Christensen was there in the mid-1980s.

The Columbia Falls program has about 65 students today and qualifies a bus load of students for the state competition, but it had humble beginnings. Just six students from the first team in 1990 qualified for state.

“We took a van,” Christensen said.

There have been some memorable teams over the years. The 1994-95 team was the first to win a state title.

“They were my favorite team,” Christensen said.

Just eight members qualified for state, but they placed high enough and scored enough points to bring home the trophy.

Christensen’s classroom walls are plastered with photos of former speech and debate team members. Many have gone on to great success in life — some have doctorates, some are attorneys, one is a Wall Street analyst, some have worked in Washington, D.C. in politics, and one works for NASA.

The culture of the team is to get better as the season progresses and learn from one’s mistakes.

“It doesn’t matter how you begin,” Christensen said. “It matters how you end.”

Columbia Falls also has a very supportive community.

“They step to judge and to volunteer,” Christensen said.