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Testimonies

Training minds for action successfully for several years...

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2009 Testimonials

2009 Conference

Colorado Conference
This was our first year to host a "conference," much like a camp yet packed full of educational material. All Training Minds Ministry's coaches flew to Colorado in August for two weeks of incredible teaching material. The Colorado Conference consisted of one week of Research Camp for team-debaters, three days of either extemp or apologetics training, three days of debate training, and and round-robin debate scrimmage.

When I came to the debate conference, I believed that with a few years of experience under my belt, I wouldn't have much to learn.  But I was in for a surprise!  Every lecture was full of valuable information that will aid me in becoming a better debator.  Thanks Training Minds Ministry!

Ashley Vaughan
Aurora, CO

We had a great time and learned a lot too!  Definitely something we are glad we did!

Daniel Elkins
Bellevue, NE

I would 100% recommend this conference to anyone looking at starting debate. The coaches were extreamly helpful and took the time to answer my questions. I went down to learn some details about debate and coaching students. I came home feeling prepared and excited about teaching debate. Thank you Trainging Minds Ministry for putting together this conference. I am planning on coming back in the future with students.

Aaron Ackland
Maple Grove, MN

This conference was beyond awesome. I met so many great people and learned so much from the coaches.

Wesley Freeland
Jefferson City, MO

Debating the Round Robin
Conference ended with a 6-round practice tournament where attendees directly applied what they learned.

The conference was well worth the travel from Illinois. Actually, it cost less than the conference in our own state! The difference was that the instructors invested themselves 100% in both the kids and the parents attending.  They really made the effort to get to know each student and parent individually.  Thank you!

Jennifer Bateman
Hanna City, IL

This was such an amazing learning experience! All my debating needs were well met!

Margot Brose
Evanston, WY

Camp was a great experience!! The coaches, the teaching, the staff, the food, the old and new friends (and the Frisbee :), all came together for one action-packed phenomenal week. The coaching was not only fabulous, but had immediate results. At the Round robin at the end of week, I ended up taking 2nd Place LDer and 2nd Place LD speaker. I believe that the coaches and the coaching directly affected my performance, where I could have done well without it, but with it, it made me so much better. I feel not only prepared to discuss, talk, and debate the topic, but I feel ready and able to succeed. Thank you Training Minds!

Jacob Phillip
Spring, TX

Wow, this was an amazing experience. I learned so much about the resolution, apologetics, and research through the two weeks. I especially liked how the coaches were always there if you had a question that needed answering. The atmosphere was great and I hope to attend next year.

Billy Klein
Fairchild AFB, WA

NITC 2009

Debate Camps
The academically rigorous activity of extemp and debate require personalized coaching...and a summer camp atmosphere sure helps. Campers in New England, California and Florida enjoyed rock climbing, ropes and zip line courses, water skiing, swimming, and much more. And they learned how to be champion debaters in the process!

I would never have been able to succeed like I've succeeded without Training Minds Ministries and their camps. I strongly encourage anyone, whether they are a complete novice or not, to attend at least once. You won't regret it.

Jason Kosloski
2009 Region 3 Lincoln-Douglas Debate Champion

With the tools I've learned at Training Minds, I am very confident and cannot wait to see how this upcoming debate season unfolds.

Jacob Dean
Tallahassee, FL

Debate Camp helped me learn and understand many things and also I got to meet new friends and have a great time.

Grayson Logue
Tallahassee, FL

WOW!  I’m simply blown away by the breadth of knowledge and experience embodied in the coaches. This year (2009) was my first time attending a Training Minds Debate Camp. I have participated in everything from CFC to Summit and while I still hold worldviews as my greatest love at this time in my life, I learned far more practical communication skills from Training Minds than any other conference I have ever attended. I will definitely make every effort to come back next year. Definitely a life changing experience!

Timothy Pierce
Winter Springs, FL

Fun at Camp
Camps have the unique opportunity to dice up the academics with fun, like swimming/skiing in Florida (left) and a ropes course in California (right).

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." from To Kill a Mockingbird    These words Atticus spoke to his daughter became ever real to me after my first parent/coach debate round!  It was an invaluable experience!

Rene Leetun
Weyers Cave, VA

The information I learned about the resolution and debate in general will help me in debate not only this year, but in many years to come. The instructors were so helpful and honestly cared about thier students. They sacrificed their free time to help us with cases or to answer questions. I walked away from this experience with nothing but positive thoughts, and hope to be able to attend next year.

Elizabeth Dews
Cashiers, NC

The Camp coaches really thought through ways to encourage both students and coaches.  Even though I have attended camp many times, I always come away with new insights on how to best train our Club back home.  Your passion for debate always helps to jumpstart our debaters for the new season.  Without camp, it would be very difficult for me as a coach to know how to best lead our Club.  Thank you for your continued encouragement.

Noelle Gebel
Columbia, SC

I would highly recommend this camp to any new LD student.  It was encouraging!  Thank you!

Jimmy Stanger
Tampa, FL

Camp was an experience I will never forget! The coaches' feedback was a wonderful wealth of resources, and I now feel prepared to face this year's competitive season. I would strongly recommend both the Extemp and the LD camp to anyone who wants to learn, and have a blast at the same time!

Ashlyn Olson
Mission Viejo, CA

I learned alot and had all my questions answered. All the coaches were extremely nice and always wanted to help. The camp was in a great location. I enjoyed every moment of the camp.

Michael Thompson
San Juan Capistrano, CA

Thanks Training Minds!  This was my second debate camp experience.  I enjoyed meeting so many people and working with an experienced debater like Andrew!

Lincoln Anderson
Salton City, CA

NITC 2009 Nationals Intensive Training Camp 2009
Greenville, S.C.

Nationals Intensive Training Camp
Our first NITC event took place the wexkend before Nationals in Greenville, SC. The purpose was to train debaters for their upcoming week of competition. Camp alumni attended for free. Twenty Team-Policy teams and 14 Lincoln-Douglas debaters were represented. All of these were National Qualifiers.

It has been fun and VERY productive working with ALL of the NITC debaters this year. Esther and I have been working hard, but we know that without the help of the Blue Book coaches and the NITC debaters who put in countless hours, blood, sweat, and tears helping us out, that we would not be where we are today. I have been to nationals three straight years in a row, but the level of chemistry and support I have received both in pre-nationals prep as well as the inter-tournament spirit of encouragement, prayers, and conversations were UNMATCHED this year with NITC! I can honestly say, at least on Esther's and my behalf, that any and all success we experience is a direct result of the investments Training Minds and NITC have made in us. Thank you ALL again and happy hunting for those still in the race.

Nicolas Townes & Esther Townes
Nationals Semi-Finalists
3rd Place in the Nation

NITC helped me take that final step beyond what I could do personally. I had learned, researched, and practiced, but I was able to go deeper and apply it thanks to NITC. Additionally, the resources in the final Red Book were incredibly valuable. Attending NITC should be extra motivation to qualify to nationals!

Kaitlin Nelson
2nd Place Extemp at Nationals
4th Place Lincoln-Douglas Speaker at Nationals
7th Place LDer in the Nation

Being at NITC in the days prior to the National Championship gave me the preparation and that last edge needed to be a national contender. Thank you so much for this experience!

Landon Webber, Louisiana
3rd Place Speaker at Nationals
Quarter-finalist at Nationals

Matthew Baker
Two-time Nationals Finalist Matthew Baker geared up students for competition.

Woohoo!! We were headed out to South Carolina for a wonderful vacation.... I mean.... Nationals. Right.... Thankfully I had NITC to get me back to focusing on Debate. They provided a wonderful 3 day camp with coaching, pep talks, training, a GINORMOUS sourcebook (so we didn't have to print all the briefs we were compiling) and a great time. I knew we had gotten rusty from not debating very much since Regionals. Am I glad we had those few practise rounds to whip us back into shape! Overall it was a wonderful experience that was helpful throughout the Nationals week and I would definitely recommend it to next year's National Debaters.

Rachel Seay, Colorado

After several weeks of not debating or thinking debate, I felt a little rusty. It was absolutely vital to have NITC three days before nats. NITC helped me get back into the swing of things. It also gave me some helpful tips and secrets that make debaters national quality.

Matthew Silver, Virginia
Region 8 Champion
13th Place Speaker in Lincoln-Douglas at Nationals

NITC provided an incredible opportunity to transition from "Nationals debate research" to "Nationals debate". Rather than spending the last few days of Nationals prep staring blankly at my computer screen, I spent the final days of prep doing the actual thing: debating. NITC recognized that even if we have all the research in the world, if we are rusty debaters, the debates will not be Nationals material. They couldn't have been more right. The difference between my first practice round at NITC and Round 1 at Nationals was night and day; I couldn't imagine how Nationals would have turned out had I not taken the time to knock off the rust. Plus, the session outlining the local judging pool and the BJU debate theory was invaluable. I walked into Nationals encouraged, excited, and ready to make my mark.

Alexandra Hebdon
Recognized Speaker at Nationals

NITC was an intense, fast-paced couple of days that took our level of debate from "Nationally-qualified" to "Nationally-competitive." The preparation, interaction, and instruction that took place at camp allowed us to prep our "A-game" and approach the prelim rounds, and later outrounds, with a confidence that we wouldn't have had otherwise. Thanks, TMM, for putting this together for us!

Renee Davis, Texas
Team-Policy Quarter-Finalist at Nationals

Debaters who have qualified to nationals will benefit from NITC. I can personally vouch for how amazing Cody is as a coach. NITC is definitely a level up from the pre-season camps, and I know it put me over the top.

Jon Chi Lou, California
3rd Place Lincoln-Douglas Debater

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Testimonies

Training minds for action successfully for several years...

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