Tournaments:
Running Your First Tournament: (Samantha Millard)
Are you considering running your first tournament this year? Come to this class to be inspired and discover resources to take on this exciting challenge!
Finding a Facility & Recruiting Community Judges: (Lynda Sloneker)
Finding a facility and recruiting community judges can be two of the most challenging tasks you may have as a tournament director. In this session, we will give you some ideas and inspiration for finding the right facility for your club or tournament. We will also share a variety of ideas to help you recruit judges. We want to equip you with ideas and resources to make these tasks less stressful and more effective.
Effective Judge Orientation: (Ellen Alcazar)
Judge Orientation is one of the most important areas of a tournament. Come and learn some tips and tricks to make your JO go smoothly. We will share ideas and information for scheduling, answering questions effectively, handling outrounds, and much more.
StoaHub and Your Tournament: (Mike Diaz)
Our new software is finally here! After much time and work, Stoa is rolling out several of the components of our new software suite this year. Beginning this 2024-2025 season, all tournament registrations will take place on StoaHub. Come and learn about how to set up your tournament and the awesome new features our software will provide.
Junior Tournaments: (Tracy Mauldin & Emily Wurpts)
Junior programs and tournaments help to inspire and grow future Stoa competitors. Come to this session and learn about how to host a Junior tournament. We will be sharing lots of ideas and resources to help you engage these younger competitors.
Principles of Stoa Tabulation: (Janice Tham & Wayne Johnson)
This class will introduce you to the “whys” of the Stoa tab processes at tournaments and at NITOC. It is not software-based but introduces you to the important concepts that undergird Tab in our league. We will also include a brief introduction to the new StoaHub tabulation software (note: using StoaHub for Tab this season is OPTIONAL as many tournaments will continue to use Joy of Tournaments for one more season).
Ballot Push and Ballot Return: (Lynda Sloneker)
Ballot administration is central to any tournament. Come learn what these processes look like at a tournament and see how our new software helps you do this more efficiently and effectively than ever before. Beginning this season, tournaments may choose to use StoaHub for ballot administration as a replacement for manual processes and StoaTrax.
Clubs:
Starting a New Club: (Suzanne Miller)
Do you live in an area with no Stoa clubs nearby? Or are you interested in expanding the opportunity to participate in Stoa to more homeschooling families in your community? Then you should start a new club! In this session, we will take the mystery out of this process and give you the tools to get started.
Fundraising: (Maggie Carabelos)
Fundraising is a job that no one wants but that everyone thinks is important. In this session, we will share some helpful tips to make your club's fundraising efforts less stressful and more effective.
How Your Club Can Build Leaders: (Ellen Alcazar)
Teaching our students to speak boldly and change the world for Christ requires speaking, critical thinking AND leadership skills. Come to this session to learn more about developing leaders within your club.
Training Parents to Coach: (Lynda Sloneker)
Raising up new (and even experienced) parents to take on and share the coaching responsibilities in your club can be daunting. In this session, we will share ideas and resources to help build a foundation of competent parent coaches in your club.
Running a Juniors Program: (Tracy Mauldin & Emily Wurpts)
Juniors are fun and challenging. A robust and exciting juniors program within your club serves many purposes for families and individual students. Come and learn about the benefits of a junior program and some tips for running one effectively.
StoaHub and Your Club: (Mike Diaz)
Stoa’s new software is here! Come and get a tour of the completed components of the program and learn how it impacts your club. We want to answer your questions and help you become familiar with this new tool.
Dealing with Conflict: (Lynda Sloneker)
Conflict resolution skills are essential for all club leaders as we inevitably must deal with conflict in some form. In this session, we will share some resources and approaches to common sources of conflict that arise in a club community.
Recruiting and Retaining Members: (TBA)
Recruiting new club members is essential to keeping a club healthy and continuing to serve your local homeschool community. Likewise, retention is often challenging but vital to your club's long-term success and mission. In this class, we will share ideas and resources for accomplishing these important needs.
Club Leader Resources: (Michelle Hawkinson)
This class will focus on the many resources you can benefit from as a club leader and/or coach. Find out about the resources Stoa offers its members and learn about some excellent non-Stoa resources that may be useful to you.
Speech:
Wildcard - What is Slam Poetry?: (Tasha Ashmutat & Allisha Speed)
Learn the expectation, format, rules, and ballot for Stoa’s new Wildcard event - Slam Poetry.
Speech Tactics and Tools for coach and tournament staff: (Sue Danielson & Allisha Speed)
Know the why behind Speech Rules and their importance at local tournaments. From Script Submission to Speech Adjudications - Understand the philosophy of speech standards and know all the processes and documents that help ensure fair competition.
Rooms, Rules, and Protocols: Running Top-Notch Extemp: (Dovey Elliot & Matthew Shipley)
Prepare students for NITOC with coaching tips and running the Extemp event, the “NITOC-way.” Learn to coach your students to be communicators in the public square by understanding the issues of the day. In addition, learn how to run an effective and efficient Extemp prep room with available tools and tips.
Coaching Apologetics - Discipling Students: (Luis Garcia & Allisha Speed)
Whether at home or in a club, you can effectively train and disciple your students in Apologetics. Learn how to develop and disciple young believers using Apologetic topics, drills, and tactics to prepare them for competition.
Sharing Script Review: (Allisha Speed)
Reviewing scripts for a tournament can be daunting. But many hands make light work! Learn how to gather a regional Script Review Team to share the load and provide a fair playing field for competition.
Debate:
Coaching Triple the Value: (Danny Lyda)
This class will go over some ideas to help with coaching Triple the Value. With 1 year under our belts, we have all had to adjust our coaching techniques, and we will discuss some lessons learned in the last year.
Coaching Parli: (Colleen Enos)
This session will cover ways we can help our Parli students. Parli is unique from our other debate forms and as such requires different coaching techniques.
How An Interp Can Transform a Debate Round: (Win Heggem)
Debaters Don’t Do Interps. Oh, but they should! Come listen and find the secret to the 1AC that every debater should know.
Adjudications: (Colleen Enos)
Adjudications can be one of the most intimidating aspects of running a tournament. In this class we will discuss some of the aspects of adjudications and give you some tools to demystify the process.
How to Use Club Time: (Katie Herche)
There is only so much time each week to coach your students. This class will go over some ways that you can make the most of your limited time with the students.
Everyone is a Coach: (Danny Lyda)
Coaching is not just for coaches. As homeschoolers we are responsible for our children's education and that includes speech and debate. Learn how you not only can, but should be involved in coaching.