Impressed Parent

I was so impressed with the kids presenting that I came back to my wife. I said to her that we are going to do this. Not sure how we're going to do it, but we're going to try to go to every tournament because I'm so impressed with these kids.

My Favorite Event!

I started with Impromptu speaking, and I did not love it. It was difficult for me to effectively manage my time, but I stuck with it. My mom encouraged me to keep going, and I could say confidently by my last year, it was my favorite event.

Overcoming a Major Speech Impediment

I used to have a major, major speech impediment. So going into it was terrifying and scary. But through debating and getting to know other people and watching some of the best people, like in the Nationals rounds, I developed a love not only for speaking but for working and striving to achieve something.

Overcoming Initial Reluctance

I wasn't super excited about it initially, and I know I've heard this from everyone else too—that initially they didn't think they really wanted to do it. Then they got into it and now, five years later, they're still loving it.

The Power of Feedback

Students get so much feedback and they learn how to humbly accept it, to appreciate it.

Learning to Listen

Debate has taught me how to listen because, especially today, I feel like not only not enough people are listening to each other's points, but they're just saying whatever they want to say. Also, it’s taught me respect and honor to your opponent, because at the end of the day, we still have to be friends.

Learn Discernment Through Competitive Debate

I think debate particularly gives them a tremendous amount of discernment, the ability to weigh arguments, and to make quality value assessments about what they're being told. I love that kids are learning to do real research from real worthy sources.

Parents and Kids Experience Learning Opportunities Together

I got to do a lot of great parenting on the tournament grounds just as a mom and talk my kids through some situations. We got to point out: “This is where we want to respond. This is how we don't want to respond.” So I feel like in every way this has been such a practical skill and a practical impact on the lives of my kids. So I highly recommend and would encourage anyone to participate.

Students Build Amazing Relationships!

They're experiencing amazing new relationships. They're experiencing love and grace and honor and respect.

The Most Beneficial High School Activity

Seeing how articulate they were, how they were striving for excellence, how they love Jesus—I thought that's the kind of student I want my homeschool student to be. And those are the kind of kids that I want them hanging out with. So that's basically why I joined. And it's been the best, most beneficial thing that I have done for my kids for high school.