We have an incredible Presentation Team lined up for Stoa's Coaches Academy 2014!

Maggie Carabelos (Miss Maggie to her students)
Maggie is an original! Her foundational efforts helped establish homeschool speech and debate in Colorado and she has been at its core ever since. She discovered a love for forensics in high school and passionately coaches the Speaking As Living Testimonies club with a strong focus on team building and community service. Maggie has been coaching Homeschool debate since 1999 and has coached SALT for the past nine years with national and regional recognition.

Angela Childress
During the past five years, Angela has loved serving in Judge Orientation for various qualifying tournaments throughout Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, & Missouri, as well as the past three NITOCs. She has served on the 2012 Electronic Script Submission sub-committee, the 2013-2014 Individual Events Committee, and is newly elected to the Stoa Board of Directors.

Angela’s background includes high school debate, a B.S. in Industrial Management, an M.B.A., and a variety of corporate management positions, including a position as Industrial Engineering consultant for efficiency analysis & process effectiveness.
Angela is delighted to share her passion for continuous improvement to encourage greater confidence in students, parents, & judges.

Sue Danielson
Sue Danielson has been involved with speech and debate since 2006, as both a parent, speech coach, and tournament director. She currently serves on the Stoa IE Speech Committee along with being in Stoa Washington leadership.

TJ Harding
TJ is a Team Policy, Parli and extemp coach who currently serves as the Stoa Debate Committee Chair. She was one of the original group of coaches who introduced Stoa to Texas in 2010. She was also one of the pioneers who piloted Parliamentary debate in 2011. In fact, she enjoys piloting programs and loves Stoa's supportive attitude toward local control and innovation.
She believes that the heart of Christian forensics is about honing skill sets and developing character, that equip kids for the opportunities and challenges God will bring.

Leslie Martin
Leslie Martin has had the privilege of being a competitor, a community judge, and a coach. Competing in both NFL and UIL in high school, Mrs. Martin understands the embarrassment of unpreparedness, the frustration of nervousness, the wretchedness of defeat, and even on the rare occasion, the excitement of winning. Throughout the years, her love for the students and the competition has kept her active in Forensics for nearly 30 years. She considers it an honor to teach and coach this wonderful sport of Speech.

Van A. Schalin, M.D.
I am humbled by the opportunity to have served this past year as your Stoa Board President. I was blessed to have a front row seat to God’s miraculous work at NITOC 2014. God continues to grow my vision of Him as I enter my twelfth year of participation in Christian homeschool speech and debate. I have coached at two different clubs in San Diego and have been privileged to work with wonderful students and families while coaching students to National Championships in Limited Preparation, Interpretive and Platform speech events and Team Policy Debate. I have also been involved in administering tournaments at every level from trash clean up to Tournament Director at NITOC (sometimes they were one in the same). My constant prayer is that God would be glorified through His work in Stoa.

Craig Smith
Craig and his wife Julie served Stoa this year as our fabulous NITOC Tournament Directors. Craig and Julie have been the directors for the Concordia Challenge in Irvine, California since 2011 and lead one of Stoa’s 5 speech and debate clubs in Orange County. Also in 2011, Craig became a member of the Stoa Individual Events Committee and is currently contributing as the committee chairperson.

Debbie Snyder
In 2011, Debbie was very supportive in bringing Stoa to Virginia. She has served on the Stoa Individual Events Committee from 2012-2014. Presently, she is a Team Policy, Parli, and Speech coach. Historically, she has been involved in speech and debate for the last seventeen years, eight years in California and nine years in Virginia. During those years she has participated in all tournament positions at one time or another. Her desire is to empower parents by giving them the skills to direct tournaments by presenting a model of tournament directing that is fun and rewarding.

Larry Sparks
Larry Sparks competed in speech and debate in high school and college. He began Extemp and LD back in 1981. Throughout his professional career he has trained leaders on improving their communication skills. In 2005 he was introduced to the world of Homeschool Forensics when invited to be a community judge. In 2007 Colleen Enos and he launched RESOLVE Speech and Debate club. He has been coaching debate ever since. Although Resolve has enjoyed competitive success, the most rewarding experience is seeing young people learn to think critically, research thoroughly, and communicate passionately. Larry currently serves on Stoa's LD comittee.

Griffith Vertican

The 2007 NPDA champion and coach of Stoa’s 2013 National Parliamentary Debate winners, California’s Griffith Veritcan, is coming to Texas! Griffith currently serves on Stoa's Team Policy Debate committee.

Mike & Mary Winther
Mary Winther, is a former high school and college debater, and has been coaching in the homeschool debate arena since 1999. She, along with her husband Mike, coaches the Modesto Debate club in California. She holds Bachelor’s Degree s in political science and secondary education. She is the mother of three former homeschool debaters and "debate mom" to hundreds of debate students she has worked with over the years. Mary also speaks at homeschool conventions and debate conferences around the country. She also the co-author of "Rhetoric Through Policy Debate".

Mike Winther has participated in speech and debate activities as both coach and competitor.

As a student, Mike has 6 years of competitive speech and debate experience. He competed for three years in high school and for three years in college for North Idaho College and for the University of Kansas. He has competed in team policy debate, Lincoln Douglass debate, extemporaneous speaking, impromptu, and radio broadcasting.

As a coach, Mike and his wife Mary have coached a homeschool club for 14 years, competing in the HSLDA, NCFCA and Stoa leagues. Mike and Mary are the authors of the textbook titled, “Rhetoric Through Policy Debate”.
Mike is a frequent speaker at debate camps and workshops and regularly presents at conferences for NFL and Stoa debaters.