Coaching a Club: Seven Secrets for Forming a Successful Speech & Debate Club teaches principles of mentoring, networking, facilitating public service and preparing the next generation to change the world through the lens of developing a forensics club.  Kim has gathered the collective wisdom of her positive peers in the Christian speech and debate community over ten years of service to teens across the nation.  Even if you don’t think your students need speech and debate, you need this book!

Excerpts

Commitment to Character

We can readily see that studying speech and debate will improve intelligence in these more traditionally academic categories. But if that is all we see, we miss the most important possibilities in forensics training.  Forensics offers young people the opportunity to exercise those academic skills in an emotionally-charged social setting very much like the real world. It offers coaches a nearly unparalleled opportunity to train students in interpersonal and intra-personal intelligence.  Taken together, these two are called “emotional intelligence” or EQ[1], and they encompass the ability to understand one’s own and others’ feelings and to use that information to make fine distinctions and to guide actions. Maturity in emotional intelligence is characterized by altruism and empathy. In Biblical parlance, we are talking about developing wisdom and character.

Commitment to Community

Collaboration is the concept of the moment.  From Linux to “Wikinomics”, it is becoming ever clearer that the future belongs to those who successfully create communities of interest and influence by exploiting the networking opportunities at hand.  So when you are trying to decide which of the many possible activities your teen will pursue during those swift, precious high school years, you’ll want to choose those that give your teen maximum connectivity for the long term.  Homeschool forensics has to be among the top 3 choices. We are not just training young people; we are helping to establish the grassroots network that will energize and support the next generation of power brokers.

Commitment to Continuity

Continuity. As we look ahead, we don’t actually have the continued existence of the particular club in view.  We are considering instead the continuing relevance of the vision, the continuity of relationships and the long-range usefulness of the skills developed here and now.  Sono Harris of Oregon’s Rainmakers admits that the longevity of the speech club was not a part of the planning. “We just jumped in and took it a year at a time.” The Harrises were looking for a challenge that would be a good fit for their children’s gifts and callings. Their passion as they built Rainmakers was to help the students “learn to use words well” (John Piper) for active service in the world. Competitive forensics in the NCFCA not only gave them skills with words, but many of the auxiliary resources they would need to launch out on their own as well: visionary peers, intergenerational networks, resume development and business connections, even scholarship opportunities.  We may develop our skills inside the Christian homeschool bubble, but they are emphatically not meant to stay there!

The book began with the compassion of one man – a poor man in India – who gathered up orphans from the streets and began to nurture them in the name of Jesus. “Papa” Thomas in Kota, India has now raised over 16,000 throw-away children from the streets of India and set them loose to extend the love that rescued them to others who still do not know the Author of love, Jesus. Profits from the book will assist “Papa” Thomas’s work Hopegivers International to continue the work of turning throw-away kids into arrows in the hand of God.

Practical as well as visionary, One Million Arrows tells dozens of stories of parents just like you who have stepped up to the challenge. Today on the One Million Arrows website, you can read about some of the Countdown to College Carpe Diem Cadre members. Petra Anderson is featured. Read it and get your parenting rejuvenation vitamin!

And today, you can join the party by buying One Million Arrows in concert with hundreds of other Christians in an Amazon Book Bomb. Let’s see how much we can contribute to this work in just one day.

According to Dawn Boyer, director of marketing, sales and public relations for government contracts and human resources director for MonsterClean Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning,  the keys to business acceptance of an online degree are:

1) Are the exams given in a proctored setting or totally online without standards?

“if the degree is high level and testing is done at proctoring centers or within a cooperative (nearby) universities, where the students must report to a controlled testing room or site, then the college/university degree is valid and there should be no question to it’s credentials.” (read Ms Boyer’s full article here: http://www.linkedin.com/answers/career-education/education-schools/CAR_BUE/474896-44930680 )

2) Is the degree-granting college accredited?

Note that Ms Boyer handles government contracts for a private company. She reports that some employers don’t check the validity of degrees reported on prospective employees’ resumes.  However, government contracts are very specific about which jobs must be performed by a degreed employee – even if that job is being handled by a private contractor.  The status of the entire contract could be jeopardized by one employee who is not properly credentialed, so her company does check up on the degree and the university awarding it.

In a climate of increasing government control of businesses across the spectrum of the economy, it makes sense to check with any online degree program you are considering to see if it measures up to these guidelines.

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Get answers to all your college and post-high school questions at the Idaho Countdown to College Workshop, May 16th in Coeur d’Alene.  Register here.

Rural Debaters Unite

Nominate an Extraordinary Teen!

One Oregon mom bounced out of the Countdown to College workshop armed with tools, ideas and enthusiasm. But she confided that she thought her family was a little behind the curve on public service. A couple of months later, I had the opportunity to catch up with Carla over a telephone coffee. She had a fresh gleam in her eye; she and her children had been out in the world and it had fallen at their feet!

Her eldest two sons teamed up to take charge of the International Debate Society (IDS network), an online debate club which serves rural homeschoolers. Once a week the brothers log onto the network, conducting value debate classes, coordinating peer mentors, and coaching young debaters with varying skill levels from across the country. It makes a pretty intense afternoon, but the rewards are great.

Dylan and Tait work with15 students from 6 states (and one in Uganda!), training them for competition in the National Christian Forensics and Communication Association. In the past, the IDS instructors and peer mentors have themselves become national competitors, due in large part to the experience of helping others get around their mental roadblocks. And the isolated young people who get their training in IDS, gain a social outlet, an academic challenge and out-sized skills in persuasion, logical thinking and standing up for what you think under pressure. Many of the IDS students live too far away from any other debaters ever to participate in a tournament, but they debate every week online in real time with friends from coast to coast.

And it doesn’t stop there. IDS alumni don’t wait to begin taking up service themselves; they start applying their newfound skills in the real world – now! Alumni can be found staffing local offices for state and national legislators, advocating restorative justice in municipal Teen Courts, writing free-lance for national magazines, manning local radio stations, raising funds for local charities, and campaigning for elected officials before they are old enough to vote. “Service encourages students to invest in others. They learn what opportunities there are, etc. They are so much better prepared for life,” says Carla. “Suddenly they aren’t just spectators in life.”

The brothers, including Creighton, their younger sib, take their public speaking service locally as well as internationally. The family visits a local retirement home, giving inspiring Bible talks based on their competitive apologetics research.  The young people develop caring relationships with the elders at the center. They grieve when the old ones die, but they have the satisfaction of seeing that they were able to ease the last difficult stretch of life.

Together, Tait and Dylan have teamed up with other local NCFCA competitors to create a speech tournament event for elementary school students once a year. In addition to providing younger students an opportunity to develop poise and public speaking skills, the Junior Tournament is a major factor in maturing young competitors on the high school level. According to parents of the organizing teens, “They see what leadership costs and what it takes to be a good leader. And they begin to appreciate what adults do for them on a larger scale when parents organize a high school tournament.”

Kudos to Tait and Dylan! Welcome to the Carpe Diem Cadre!

Next time, wait till you see what the younger sibs in this family have gotten up to!

The Value of Public Service

Parents are often surprised that public service plays such a large role in the post-graduate success of their young people. It is the close second to academics in attracting college scholarship money. It is a vital element of building a network for entrepreneurship and post-graduate work; the business you helped will be happy to help you and when they need an employee or free-lance consultant, you will be tops on their list. Public service is also one of the most important stimulants to developing compassion and maturity. And, if you are looking for positive peers for your teens, the other young people who engage in public service become a social network of extraordinary vigor, usefulness and delight.

Yet public service is not well understood by most families. We don’t sit around the soccer field discussing service opportunities like we discuss employment opportunities or college entrance exams, but service will benefit our teens far more than either of those. Most of us just don’t know what public service could look like on a teenager.

The Power of Young Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs serve their communities in another way.  Young people who start their own businesses while in high school learn that they never have to wait for someone else to give them a job. They will never be the ones taking a welfare handout or lining up for a government bailout. They develop the habit of seeing what needs to be done. The enthusiasm and vigor of young people bring a refreshing energy and high sense of ethical idealism to the marketplace. Not only are these young people the ones paying for their own extras as teens, but they are often the people making opportunities for others to make money.

The teen years are the ideal time for a young person to learn what it takes to be his own boss. During the course of starting a business, young people usually begin to develop the professional mentors and network connections that they will continue to  mine throughout their adult work life.  Young men are able to experiment with innovative business models and ground-breaking product ideas without worrying that wives and children will be injured if the innovations fail.Young women can establish a reputation and clientele for a home-based industry before they will interfere with family concerns. Scholarship committees, employers, and potential business connections sit up and take notice when a young person has taken the initiative to start her own enterprise. Teen entrepreneurship is the next best thing to being born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

The Carpe Diem Cadre

Countdown to College will recognize teens who either become business innovators or who provide significant service to their communities as members of the Carpe Diem Cadre. “Carpe Diem” is Latin for “Seize the Day”, and we would like to honor those young people who don’t’ wait for some magic age to begin taking up their places as contributors to their world. We will tell their stories on this blog, and award a graphic for them to post on their own websites, digital signatures, Facebook Flair boards, etc. They will receive a FREE copy of the new audio CD, Resume Development for the Real World, and when Countdown to College comes to their areas, the Carpe Diem Cadre will be invited to attend the workshop for free and to speak about their service during the seminar!

Get Involved!

If you know a teen who engages in extraordinary entrepreneurial interests or public service, nominate him or her for the Carpe Diem Cadre. Click  here or on the Carpe Diem Cadre button on the sidebar for a nomination form and instructions. We’d love to hear from you!

Do I need to mention that this is the Christmas season of Advent? A time of extraordinary opportunity for worship and service. American Christians are beginning to suspect that their pursuit of stuff, their rush to create additional debt during this time, isn’t really what it’s all about.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the Christian gifting traditions. But the gifting must grow out of worship, out of delight in that greatest of Gifts, Jesus the Messiah himself. When giving springs from contemplation and adoration of Jesus, the whole process is transformed. It begins to lead us deeper into spiritual realities rather than to trap us in shallow consumerism.

The group, Advent Conspiracy, has given this idea some thought. Their challenge is: “Give Presence”. Maybe it will give you some ideas about how to take full advantage of this special time, as well.

“Come What May” has several distribution offers under consideration, but Advent Film Group is releasing the film for this limited free viewing on GodTube at this time in hopes that it may have an influence on the election.  The film treats the questions of the value of human life and of marriage.  Both are vital considerations in the current election, as the next President will likely have the opportunity to appoint several Supreme Court justices.

George Escobar’s brainchild, Advent Film Group, is the sort of effort that creates opportunities for youth that match their abilities and harness their passions to their aspirations. The youth who worked on the film passionately believe in its message and aspire to right the wrongs it addresses in powerful ways.  Escobar’s vision is exactly the sort of innovation that our current education system desperately needs – the opportunity to partner passion for action with learning.

Whatever field your student hopes to enter, these are the sorts of mentorships you should seek. Whether you are looking for college prep resume development during high school, co-curricular college experience or outside-the-box college alternatives, these are the sorts of mentorships you should seek. They offer skill creation, networks, resume development and real-world impact – today!

Yes!! Yes! Yes!!!! I’d like to introduce you to this growing column of youth who are not waiting for some magical age or invitation to begin to become productive, to have an impact.  They are siezing the day God has given them today.  These young people are the Carpe Diem Cadre.

Meet today’s featured member: Jon Chi L

His Carpe Diem project is a self-designed website to inform voters about Barack Obama on the eve of what promises to be the most epic election since Ronald Regan.

You will be as amazed as I was by the quality of the research, the care to cite mainstream news sources, and the intriguing interactivity of the site.  You can view videos of Obama’s flip-flops, take a fact survey, download buttons to share the site with friends, interact with other visitors on a forum, even pray with other Christian voters.

Before you dismiss this as the work of a guy about to launch off to college, note this: Jon Chi is 14 years old and a sophomore in his San Diego homeschool! I met Jon Chi at the Training Minds Ministries values debate camp in California last month. His mom, Christina, attended my mini-Countdown workshop there.  Jon Chi is also active in Generation Joshua, a teen lobbying group, with which he will visit my home state to help get the vote out in the last 72 hours before the polls close.

So Jon Chi is no stranger to public service of the sort described in Countdown to College.

“I want to make a difference. I don’t want to be a person that hasn’t accomplished anything at the end of his life,”

says Jon Chi when asked about his aspirations.  He saw that Obama’s inconsistent statements and behaviors were not being well-documented in easy-to-access ways, so he determined to do something about it.  He says that he spent two solid weeks this summer doing nothing but coding, took a break to get school underway, and then came back to the project at the beginning of October, logging twenty to thirty hours a week to get it ready in time to help voters decide on Election Day. He modestly characterizes his efforts,

“One of the great things about having skills such as making websites handy is that when the need arises, you can put the skills to good use.”

Please visit his amazing site and pass it on to your friends.  This could become a political discussion site, where you young debaters could seriously discuss the issues and the candidates. You, too, can make a difference – today!