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Success: 2010 | 2009 | 2008

Tournament season for the 2009-2010 competitive year is on its way. Training Minds Ministry will be posting success stories as news comes in of the hard work and training paying off.

Research Camp Alumni Takes 1st Once Again

Posted 3/8/10

Guthrie Leath with his partner, Jonathan Waddell, took 1st Place for the second qualifier in a row in Region 7 (Cleveland, Ohio). The two were neck-and-neck in speaker points: 3rd and 2nd place respectfully.

Other awards went to our alumni. In Lincoln-Douglas, top Speaker Award went to Florida Alumni Preston Kennedy. Alumni Joseph Samelson took 1st Place in Extemp, and Benjamin Simon took 1st Sweeps for the entire tournament.

We have already started to receive registrations for our Florida Camp, home to many of these Region 7 champions. Success happens for those students who jump in right away in the beginning of the year. Congratulations Region 7 alumni!

Future Interns Score Big in Region 3

Posted 3/7/10

Kaitlin Nelson (pictured before a panel of judges) has enjoyed a 40-ballot winning streak. She will help coordinate this summer's Monument Publishing Intership Program .
Kaitlin Nelson

The streak is rarely heard of: 40 ballots in a row covering three tournaments all flowing to one team. Shane Baumgardner and Kaitlin Nelson, both Lincoln-Douglas alumni debaters, teamed up this year in Team-Policy. They prepared at Research Camp and the summer Conference, and their training is paying off. At last weekend's Region 3 Centennial Tournament in Colorado Springs, they secured 1st Place Team-Policy for the third qualifying tournament in a row. Also secured: Kaitlin 1st Extemp, 2nd Persuasive, 1st Thematic, 1st Speech Sweeps, 2nd TP Speaks; Shane 2nd Extemp, 1st Impromptu, 3rd Original Oratory, 3rd Persuasive, 2nd Speech Sweeps, 1st TP Speaks.

Impressive! What should interest you is this: Shane and Kaitlin are helping head up this summer's Internship Program for Training Minds Ministry, a brand new program meant to train aspiring journalists, film-makers and Web designers for action in the publishing world. Others involved include Chris Jeub (president), Rachel Seay (who took 3rd in Extemp, 2nd Impromptu, and 1st Persuasive at the same tournament), Cynthia & Lydia Jeub (quarterfinalist in TP), and graduate Jesse Byrnes. Selected interns will attend up to two 2-week internships where the curriculum--the very curriculum that trained these champions--will be written, edited, designed, marketed, and sold to NCFCA/Stoa communities. This internship may be for you.

This is a great way to give back to the community of speakers and debaters. Like the competitors mentioned above, you may be enjoying your biggest competitive year. You're perfect candidates to help publish bestselling curriculum and resources to help train the next slew of competitors. We are ready to welcome you to Colorado for this special internship that will give back to the very communities that helped train you up. Click here to apply for a Monument Publishing Summer Internships.

The news above wasn't the only good news coming out of this qualifier. Check out Chris Jeub's Buzz from the tournament award ceremony here. Camp alumni stacked up the awards.

Going 6-0 Despite Oncoming Tsunami

Posted 3/2/10

Christa Brown at California CampYou may have heard the news that Hawaii called their first tsunami drill in 16 years in reaction to the Chili earthquake. Hawaii was wrapping up their first Region 1 Qualifier. They weren't able to finish the tournament because of the alarm, but the result for our alumni was very encouraging. Christa Brown and Catherine Gardner went 6-0! Congratulations Brown/Gardner team.

Here's a note from Christa (pictured here from last summer's Debate Camp):

"Catherine and I went 6-0 in our regional qualifier, and would have advanced to semi-finals had not the last day of our tournament been canceled due to the tsunami evacuation (it turned out to be a three foot tsunami). The Blue Books served us well, as did the training we received at Training Minds Camp. Catherine and I also got 1st and 2nd place speaker positions in 5 out of the 6 rounds. We were super excited. Just wanted to let you know!"

National Opens Bring Top Awards: 4/5 Qualifying Slots

Posted 2/21/10

Harding-Pinero at NITCPictured: Harding/Pinero at Training Minds Ministry's NITC camp 2009. They took 1st Place Team-Policy at NCFCA's first 2010 open qualifier.

Probably the toughest weekend of competition in the country, so far. Two National Open tournaments coincided: NCFCA Houston and Stoa Inland National Qualifiers. Hundreds of students geared up for qualification straight to the respective national tournaments. TMM Camp Alumni received top awards and slots to Nationals. We're extremely proud of their success! Here are results:

Here's a powerful testimony from an Illinois mom who lacked experienced coaching. She and her son came out to our conference last summer. Jennifer's son, Jon, took 6th in Extemp and broke in Lincoln-Douglas, after just his second tournament this year! Proud mom had this to say:

The credit goes to your summer camp program. Since we do not have a coach for our club, Jon completely relies on what he learned out in Colorado this past summer. Thank you again for your investment in our young people!! I am sure the "pay" isn't very high for your expertise, but we all know that your real payment is a jewel in your crown at the ultimate "Awards Ceremony"!! - Jennifer Bateman, Ill.

"I'm sending my kids to Training Minds!"

Posted 2/14/10

RMC 2010A dad made these remarks after seeing how many of the top awards at the Rocky Mountain Classic Tournament went to Training Minds Ministry alumni. This is the third year in a row that the RMC has had these kinds of results, a testimony at how training at the summer camps becomes a definite advantage at competition time. Consider:

Campers filled the speaking events, too. Training Minds Conference in Monument, Colorado, will be teaching every event + debate this summer. Parents should start planning to bring their competitors to Training Minds Conference. Registration is now open!

Florida Success

Posted 2/13/10

Florida AwardsWe hosted our first Florida camp in 2009, and the results have been extremely encouraging. Check out the details of the 2010 Florida Camp here. Last weekend's Florida Sunshine State Qualifier had the following impressive results.

Pictured holding his Lincoln-Douglas debate trophy is Alex Sargent. He had this to say about his experience at Florida camp:

I attended the Training Minds Florida Camp this past October. At the time, I thought that it was the greatest week of Debate training I had ever received. Last week confirmed that. I competed in the Florida NCFCA qualifying tournament, along with 52 other debaters. I found it incredible that I broke to octafinals and debated a good friend of mine, and fellow TMM alumnus, Kaitlyn Johnston. I found it even more incredible that I won, and proceeded to win my quarterfinal round against another TMM alumnus, Christian Fernandez. As the rounds kept passing, I found myself debating in the Final round. In a 4-3 decision, I won finals.

I wanted to thank you all so much for the time, effort, and energy that you all put into facilitating your camps and publishing the Red Book. Without these resources, I could not have dreamed of being in this situation. I would particularly like to thank Andrew Roblyer and Cody Herche for their teaching and direction. May God bless your ministry in the coming years.

Thank you so much, Alex Sargent

DFW Qualifier Shows 1st Places All-around

Posted 2/1/10

Both Lincoln-Douglas and Team-Policy champions in Region 4's first qualifier were our camp alumni. Competition is tough in the largest NCFCA region. Congratulations, gentlemen!

Vector Icebreaker Qualifier

Posted 2/1/10

The ice was broken with several of our alumni making an impression in Region IX. Good job, everyone!

Peoria Qualifier: Hard Work From Novice Pays Off

Posted 1/22/10

The Peoria Qualifier in Region 6 took place last week, and we caught wind of one of our novice extempers/debaters doing quite well. Cody Herche, head coach of our extemp program and former national champion himself, received this email from a proud mom:

I wanted to share with you how my son, Jon Bateman, placed at our first NCFCA qualifying tournament last week. It was his first time to attempt Extemp since camp out in Colorado this summer. He ended up placing 7th place in the final round!!! What was even better, was that he caused quite a stir because word got around really fast that he was OFF card!! He decided that it would be easier to memorize his sources and start off card than to become dependent on the card and have to try to kick the habit later. He keeps his card in his suit jacket pocket just in case!!

Thank you again for all of your encouragement this past summer. Jon is really looking forward to pursuing Extemp!!

After asking for permission to post this, she included that Jon took 3rd place in Lincoln-Douglas debate. The Batemans drove out to Colorado last summer for training, and the result is plain to see: early preparation pays off at competition time. Register for Summer '10 today!

Largest Homeschool Tournament in History: Alumni takes 1st Place

Posted 1/20/10

Chase and AshlynTraining Minds Ministry has hosted debate camps in California for the last 4 years, and results keep showing impact in tournament results. January's Concordia Challege was home-school debate's largest tournament in history: 112 team-policy teams and 84 Lincoln-Douglas debaters. Competition was extremely challenging, yet alumni Chase Harrington managed to come out champion as top seed 7-1 and undefeated through the outrounds, taking 1st place Lincoln-Douglas award.

Pictured here is Chase with Ashlyn Olson scrimmaging at Training Minds Debate Camp. Ashlyn, too, took top awards and qualified to Nationals. Camp was in October, showing that the early start to the year pays dividends come competitive seasion. Congratulations LDers!

Region 3 First Reg'l Qualifier: Majority Are TMM Alumni

Posted 1/10/10

Region 3's most widely represented qualifier welcomed seven states (WA, OR, ID, MT, WY, UT, CO) in Salt Lake City. Results showed good news from the top: 1st Place Team-Policy Debaters were 3 and 4-year alumni team Shane Baumgardner and Kaitlin Nelson. They were matched up with a team in Washington consisting of LD camp alumni Catherine Jones, also taking 3rd speaker. Other notable successes of our alumni:

Region 7 First Reg'l Qualifier: Mom Testifies to Camp Value

Posted 1/10/10

Again, waiting for official results, but the news is good. Jared Hooper of our Florida Camp made it to semi-finals in Lincoln-Douglas. Research Camp alumni Guthrie Leath and partner, Jonathan Wadell, took the prize trophy of 1st place in Team-Debate. Brother/Sister team Samelson/Samelson of our Florida '09 Camp and Vance Trefethen's online course were beat out by Leath/Wadell in Semis. From Suanne, mom of the Samelson/Samelson team:

I want to thank you so much...Joseph and Rebecca made it to semi-finals. I never dreamed that they would improve so much in a year. Thanks to you and all of the coaches at camp this fall, and especially to Coach Vance and his online class through Training Minds, they have increased their speaking and debating skills so much. I also want to thank you for the opportunity Joseph has had to work with the Blue Book Report. He is so excited about the opportunity. -Suanne Samelson

Samelsons at Camp
Pictured here: Coach Vance (right) coaches two teams at the
Florida Debate Camp. Joseph Samelson is speaking on the left.

Success: 2010 | 2009 | 2008