We are excited to introduce you to another member of our Lasting Impact! team! Abbey Lovett has been coaching Speech and Debate for 4 years. She has had an amazing Speech and Debate career-a few of her highest accomplishments include 2016 National Impromptu Champion, 2015 National Team Policy Speaker Champion. Abbey is scheduling appointments for either Speech and/or TP Debate. Here is what she had to say in her interview…
Continue reading “Introducing our Newest Coach – Abbey Lovett”
Starting and leading a Speech and Debate Club can take a lot of time and energy. Club leaders are amazing! However, many club leaders feel inadequate and unequipped. I have been asked numerous times to show what a sample syllabus of what a random speech club would/could look like. Challenge accepted! So naturally I thought I would use Lasting Impact! Vol. 1 as my guide. Please note- Lasting Impact! Vol. 1 was not written as a curriculum, but because we follow your speech journey, you can see the path I chose to use. Whether you are a new club leader or a leader looking for a fresh new approach on how to combat club this year, here is a possible syllabus using Lasting Impact! Vol. 1 as your main resource….
One of the great challenges in Speech and Debate clubs - especially well-established and growing clubs - is how to make the club time valuable for both ends of the experience spectrum- advanced and beginner students. A new family in the club knows nothing and is feeling overwhelmed and uniformed. They need to know what the events are. They need practice and instruction in basic skills. They need to know what they are aiming for. They want to grow so they can do this speech thing. And let's face it, those kids who have competed a couple of seasons don't want to learn basic skills again. They don't want to have the events explained to them. They don't even want to demonstrate last year's speeches! They want to grow themselves. How do we find the balance here?
Lasting Impact! is gearing up for another great year of living in the word through Online Apologetics. You do not need to be a competitor of Speech and Debate to get a better understanding of the Christian Faith. You don’t have to walk that road alone. Each year we have students, along with their families join us in the journey. Through the power of technology we have people across the nation joining us every Tuesday evening starting Sept. 12 from 8:00-9:00 CT.
When I asked Online Apol. Leader, Rachel Bechtel, what can Online Apol. do for students? She replied, “Online Apololegics opens the door to not only to great apologetics resources, but also to great apologetics discussions and feedback. Online Apol. will challenge you personally in your walk with Christ, equip you to effectively communicate in competition or out of competition , and give you the tools to powerfully persuade in your day to day conversations. For me, Online Apol. has encouraged me significantly in my study of Scriptures… and they are more valuable than “fine gold” (Psalm 19:10).!! Talking about God’s life answers with others who also passionately follow Him is so incredible! Discussing and learning together in online forem has helped me answer some of the biggest questions about my faith – like, why does God allow us to sin and yet still hold us accountable? Why do bad things happen to good people?”
If you want to be part of this season’s Online Apol. group, click here.
I had the priveledge of coaching and working with Alexander Kidd (along with the other amazing members of his club in Ohio) this past year, and specifically witnessing his speech journey. I asked him to share what he learned this year. As you are grappling with what events to participate in, I hope you take heart Alexander’s message….
From my first days as a Speech and Debate competitor, I considered myself, first and foremost, a debater. My categorization of speeches could be generally understood as follows:
1. interps are great for amusement (from the Latin: a + musa or without thought).
2. platforms are not for me.
3. limited preps are worth doing to avoid timing them.
Perhaps, I overstate my mindset, nevertheless, I most certainly viewed speech as something to pass the time between debate rounds. Yet this past year, which also happened to be my senior year, I had something of a mindset switch. Now please don’t misunderstand me, none of this new revelation in anyway dampened my passion for debate. But it did cause me to view my involvement in Speech and Debate through a different lens.
Continue reading “Guest Blog: Grappling with Grendel: Seeking Growth above Trophies”
Congratulations, you’ve made it through another season of speech and debate. But the next season is looming on the horizon. Yep, that’s right. It’s already time to start this fun, educational, and sleep-depriving adventure all over again. But we aren’t going in empty handed, no we are not. If there was one thing speech and debate has taught me (and taught me the hard way) it’s that time-management can take any big task and turn it into a small one. I want to help you get a kick start on your season by utilizing the very effective skill of...Time Management!
People have asked me- “how did your kids become so successful?” They assume I have a degree in theater, they think my kids are all “naturally gifted”, or they think we just happened to stumble on the perfect piece. The fact of the matter is, my kids put a lot of time into Speech… We all do! Speech is a team effort in my home. Speech and Debate is a year long event.
Preparing in the summer for Speech and Debate? For limited prep events? Seems unnecessary, to say the least… maybe even incongruous. Despite the category’s connotations, starting prep in the summer will enable you to actualize your maximum competitive potential and derive the greatest educational benefit. This week, I’ll be sharing some strategies for conquering the task, starting with apologetics.
We are always thrilled to have amazing people part of our Lasting Impact! team! We thought you might want to get to know one of our newest coaches a little better. Kaitlyn Butts is from North Carolina. She has had an amazing Speech and Debate career-a few of her highest accomplishments include 2016 National Apologetics Champion, 2017 National Biographical Narrative Champion, and 2017 National Sweepstakes Champion…
Continue reading “Introducing Kaitlyn Butts, National Champion, Lasting Impact! Coach”
For all of the benefits of working with a partner, there are some circumstances when partnering is really not the best option. Consider our experience with the following situations:
For some competitors the last Qualifier or Regionals may be their last stop in their "Speech Journey". Other students might have the opportunity to compete at a National Championship. Regardless of when the competition ends... It will end, and the season will be over. Now what? Not everyone can walk away a "champion". In fact, when you think about it- the riding off into the sunset with a first place trophy at Nationals doesn't happen to everyone. But is this why you started this journey in the first place- a big trophy? Were you motivated to learn about a certain subject? Did you have something to share? I challenge you to remember where the journey started and why...Where did your Speech begin? Why did you write it?
Your Speech does not have to stop at your last Qualifier, Regionals, or even Nationals! Was your Speech only made for competition? I doubt it! I bet there are many audiences that would benefit from hearing your Speech!
Let's face it, partnership poses a whole new element when it comes to competitive speech and debate! Some events simply require a partnership as part of the challenge of taking on those events, and my family has been blessed to have been involved in truly amazing partnerships! Our team policy partnership forged a deep and abiding friendship that helped my daughter learn that life is really more about working with others well than anything else. But partnerships are not to be entered into lightly, so there are several things to consider when contemplating a debate partnership:
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