Lasting Impact!

Expectations From an Online Tournament from Lasting Impact! By: Thaddian Burson

Posted on September 10, 2020September 10, 2020 by Heather Neumann

I could say it a thousand times: Adaption to online tournaments will be essential for the upcoming debate season! Raise your hand if you want to try out online debate for the first time at an actual tournament with check marks or at-large points in the balance? No hands? I agree.
The speech and debate world is undergoing a huge shift to try and balance speech and debate while protecting people’s lives. This shift is towards online debate. As students, we can choose to either resist it and just hope that something changes, or embrace it and learn to adapt. I am with most of you in that my initial gut reaction to online debate was: “Yuck!” Yet, after participating in several online tournaments, one of which was hosted by Lasting Impact!, my perspective has entirely changed. I believe that online tournaments provide a more than viable way to continue speech and debate in the Covid era.

Lasting Impact! is offering a chance to prepare for these online tournaments in the form of their Fall Circuit. It starts Sept. 28, 2020. Go to www.impacttournaments.com for more info or to register. In the meantime here are some expectations that you can have for this circuit and future Impact Tournaments…

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From Virus to Virtue (The Need For Lifetime Debate) by: Laurie Dawson

Posted on September 8, 2020September 8, 2020 by Heather Neumann

Laurie Dawson went from teaching a couple Lincoln Douglas Debate students to 40! This year, she is teaming up with Lasting Impact! to create two LD Clubs for Stoa. She has a passion to help students become life long thinkers. Laurie’s approach as a coach is innovative and heavily focused on personal engagement, aiming far beyond the high school debate realm and into adulthood. Passionate about teaching students to think and reason for themselves, Laurie believes competitive debate catalyzes both intra- and interpersonal development. The skills Laurie refined in business and non-profit leadership are the same skills imparted to her Lincoln Douglas debaters:
– to assess, research, and organize large amounts of information
– to employ traditional logic when constructing and deconstructing arguments
– to reason and persuade whilst maintaining moral and ethical integrity
Laurie coaches toward the mastery of these foundational skills and then builds upon them – line up on line. Her modern approach to classroom learning has resulted in many, even first year debaters, becoming national qualifiers…

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Online Apprehension For Speech and Debate? By: Stacy Edmond

Posted on September 2, 2020September 2, 2020 by Heather Neumann

The concept of online speech & debate clubs, classes and tournaments, were, not too long ago, just about unheard of. Now, they are our new reality. Until recently, I was one of the many that thought the whole notion of any of our beloved speech & debate activities being done online, absolutely absurd and totally impossible. Boy, was I wrong…

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Last Week to Register – Online Clubs, Classes, and Tournament Circuit

Posted on September 1, 2020September 1, 2020 by Heather Neumann

It’s been a fantastic summer!! Yet, we are ready to see what God has in store for us NEXT! The question is, are you?!? This fall Lasting Impact! is bigger than ever – online clubs, classes, and tournaments! Classes and Clubs start the week of or after Labor Day. The Online Tournament Circuit starts the end of the September. Be sure you register today! Want to learn more information about these online opportunities – read on…

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Preparing Your Younger Student For Debate? By: Amy Eichholz

Posted on August 28, 2020August 28, 2020 by Heather Neumann

We are so blessed to have Amy Eichholz as part of the Lasting Impact! Team! She has been teaching Beginner Debate for years, and has seen the benefits through her own children, as well as the numerous students who have had her as a coach. We are excited to offer Debate Readiness to our online community. For more information on the class click HERE or go to the SHOP on our site, OR keep reading to hear Amy’s heart on preparing young debaters…

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Hope Rawlson Does it Again – 2020-21 LD Guidebook is HERE!

Posted on August 26, 2020August 26, 2020 by Heather Neumann

This summer the Lasting Impact Team and myself have been working hard on the 2020-2021 NCFCA Lincoln Douglas Debate Guidebook!

Through this process, I have discovered the difficulty level of this resolution – it isn’t an easy one. We want you to be as prepared as possible; we want you to reach your fullest potential.

The Guidebook is to do precisely as the name implies – guide you through the year. If you have never stepped foot in a round or if you are a seasoned pro looking to dominate your senior year, this book is for you.

For beginners, it contains thorough explanations and illustrations of each element of an LD case. Additionally, multiple cases are provided that can be used as-is or made into one’s own.

For advanced debaters, we have made sure that over 90% of the evidence found is from highly credible sources, that the briefs cover every major example you need to know about, and that inside contains everything you need to jumpstart your year.

Young or old, teacher or competitor, this Guidebook is for you.

You won’t be disappointed! Get it HERE.

Want to know more about the author… Here is what Hope had to say when we asked her a few questions…

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Exercising Discernment Through Biblical Extemporaneous By : Eric Meinerding

Posted on August 25, 2020August 25, 2020 by Heather Neumann

I have known Eric Meinerding for quite a few years. I knew him as a growing competitor, I was at his house when he received a full ride scholarship into college, I’ve seen him grow spiritually, mentally, and physically. I’ve seen him now, graduate college and choose ministry, even though he very clearly could have gone straight to law school. I have seen him mentor and coach hundreds of students and I am so blessed to have him a part of the Lasting Impact! Team (after all he was one of the original Online Apologetics crew back in 2014). I am thrilled he wants to take lead on this Current Events Class/ Extemp Club!! Read his heart on what this fall class/club will look like…

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Add Fun to Virtual/Online Club – 11 Virtual Games Club Leaders Should Try

Posted on August 24, 2020August 24, 2020 by Heather Neumann

It's a whole new world!! Is the thought of running your speech and debate club online getting you down? Heather Neumann, Founder of Lasting Impact!, has created a whole list of virtual games, activities, and fun, regardless of what online platform you are using (these could all be done in person too). Check out these great ideas on how to engage, interact, and connect with your students online this year. Remember, although club may look different from years past, students still want the opportunity to get together, express themselves, and grow through the art of communication! These game are easy and fun! Let me know what you think, and remember- You Got This!

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Lasting Impact: Remembering Who We Are

Posted on August 20, 2020August 20, 2020 by Kristi Eskelund

Heather and I have been at this Lasting Impact! effort for almost four years now. Perhaps you knew us before and have been with us for the whole journey. Perhaps you are new to the Lasting Impact! family. Either way, we want to take a moment this year to welcome you and to remind you of who we are.

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Introducing – Lasting Impact! Fall Circuit sponsored by: DFW Speech and Debate

Posted on August 17, 2020August 17, 2020 by Heather Neumann

As we launch into this 2020-21 unprecedented season of speech and debate, we are excited to see leagues and coaching organizations adapt.

Champions intuitively understand a foundational truth: mastery requires practice. In the face of last year’s canceled spring season, Lasting Impact! piloted an online tournament platform with a heart for providing a quality online tournament experience. The resulting tournament exceeded expectations. This got us thinking: why not provide a fall practice experience with the same level of quality? After all, we are not trying to replace in person tournaments, yet the art of communication needs to continue to grow and develop.

After lengthy brainstorming and planning, we’re incredibly excited to announce the Inaugural Lasting Impact Fall Circuit, hosted by Lasting Impact! and sponsored by DFW Speech and Debate. The Fall Circuit will provide lincoln value and team policy debate options for STOA and NCFCA students. It includes weekly rounds starting September 28th. After the six preliminary rounds finish, we will host a one-day outrounds experience November 7 (with awesome prizes). The entire experience will run on a seamless online platform. This will give students, parents, coaches, and clubs all the opportunity to check out a virtual tournament!

Registration opens at noon today!! Click this link to register! For the next two weeks, we will discount the registration price of $49.99. Without required affiliations, travel costs, and other associated costs of competing in person, this online fall experience provides high-level practice for preliminary and elimination rounds at a fraction of the cost. You won’t want to miss it. We’re excited!

The resolutions will be…

TP Stoa

Resolved: “The USFG should considerably decrease its military commitments.”

LD Stoa

Resolved: “Economic stability is more important than economic growth.”

LD NCFCA

Resolved: “In democratic elections, the public’s right to know ought to be valued above a candidate’s right to privacy.”

TP NCFCA

Resolved: “The European Union should substantially reform its immigration policy.”

We look forward to meeting with you, and experiencing debate in a wonderful new way! No affiliation necessary to compete.

Check out the Impact Tournament site at www.impacttournaments.com

We are excited to be uniting with DFW Speech and Debate. We are excited for the opportunities to still offer high quality competition and ways for our youth to grow. We are excited for what the Lord has in store. The question is – are you??

Apologetics As Worship by Joey Ooi

Posted on August 10, 2020August 10, 2020 by Heather Neumann

My Bible never felt heavier than the time I held it under one arm with my Apol box, checking my name off the door posting for the first time. I begged as many competitors to go into my room before me, delaying what I thought was the inevitable fate for being called out for a lack of content, lack of understanding, and a shipload of heresy.

Along with Impromptu, I was forced into Apologetics. Impromptu wasn’t hard for me – no wrong answers meant no fear about topics. But Apologetics- I didn’t like Apol. at all. Specifically, I didn’t like feeling inadequate. No matter how much I prepared because I always knew that there was something I was missing. Above all, I was terrified that I would say something wrong about Scripture and God.

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Imagination by: Denise Montgomery

Posted on August 7, 2020August 19, 2020 by Heather Neumann

Denise Montgomery has a passion for literature, speech and debate, and English. Which is why she created Creativity for English and Beyond – one of the CLASSES offered through Lasting Impact! this fall. Did you know Lasting Impact! offers over 20 different opportunities to connect through classes and clubs? Check them all out in the SHOP. I hope you hear Denise’s heart in this article…

Being creative can be duck soup if we allow ourselves to be free. Ah, and therein is placed the stumbling block: free.

Imagine this: you wake up and see the day through a child’s eyes, experiencing everything of the day in the miraculously free way a child can. Wow! Sign me up for that day of days gone by…

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