Arlen Specter: “When Ada Mae Groetzinger left Russell High in the spring of 1946, Tom Kelly became the debate coach. Tom Kelly had not…”

“When Ada Mae Groetzinger left Russell High in the spring of 1946, Tom Kelly became the debate coach. Tom Kelly had not had experience as a debate coach. He was the drama coach. He directed the school plays ``Lost Horizon'' and ``Nothing But The Truth,'' and was very adept at that. But having inherited an extraordinary group of high school debaters, Tom Kelly was our coach when we won the State AA championship in the spring of 1947. With the experience he gained at Russell High School, he then went on to Hutchinson Junior College, where he won national championships and was an outstanding teacher in his own right. He gave two lectures to us which have carried forth with me to this day. Every Friday, when we would prepare to go to a debate tournament, Mr. Kelly would organize the students and start to tell us about the forthcoming trip. His slogan was ``Don't choke up in the clutch.'' That means: Don't get too nervous to do your job. ``Don't choke up in the clutch.'' We would go to the tournament, characteristically come back having won the tournament, and on Monday he would again address the high school debaters and say: ``Don't rest on your laurels.'' Those were Tom Kelly's words, which have carried through to this day.”