Ex Nihilo Friends,
Thanks for a terrific start to the club year, and welcome to the beginning of tournament season!
Congrats to Hannah, Erica, Ruth, Maddie, Ollie, & Lucy for competing at The Prolific Prologue in Redlands, CA. Notable achievements already for Maddie include bringing home a 6th place finish in Lincoln Douglas Debate, as well as 5th place LD Speaker! Noteworthy mention also to Ruth for competing in her first ever debate event. Great job, all.
Training Forthcoming
We have short briefings scheduled for our next two club nights, to be held at the beginning of our 1st speech block. This Monday you’ll hear from an expert in the field on proper (read: stress-free!) Script Submission, which is the process of uploading your written speech for review and approval prior to competitions. Script Submission is a requirement for most tournaments for Platform and Interpretive events. Next week we’ll host a Judge Orientation overview in order to review recent rule and guideline changes, help first-time judges become comfortable in the judging chair, as well as give our students strategical insight into how your judges are coached! Both topics will be helpful to both students and parents for tournament prep — be sure to tune in.
Speaking of tuning in: Apologetics!
Stoa Apologetics Questions 2024-25
Stoa Mars Hill Topics 2024-25
Apol truly is intended to be the heart of our club. The dedicated time at the beginning of each club night is what gives our children the unique opportunity to discuss, wrestle through ideas with Bible-believing peers and adults, and build confidence in engaging in these topics as we learn to, as our club tagline states, “Speak. Proclaim. Defend.” Parents, you can help by assisting with these discussion groups and providing a listening ear for hearing their viewpoints while guiding constructive feedback. Join in the conversation, it’s a family affair! It’s also notable that while we “major on the majors” here with our Statement of Faith, there are many viewpoints from a diverse background of Christians represented. We love every bit of that, and we love the atmosphere of deep learning and refining that such differences can provide. Juniors are welcome and encouraged to attend, also. Upcoming spring tournaments will likely offer Junior Apol events.
Juniors — and what a great group they are, photos below :).
Parents of Juniors, if you’d like to help your young speaker look ahead to Monday nights, check the #juniors Slack Channel for weekly updates, to include optional assignments, from Mrs. Hosmer. Hint: this week they will be official news broadcasters, sharing news of a Bible story they are selecting and preparing at home. Thank you, Mrs. Hosmer!
Useful links and reminders:
Venmo for dinner, $3/person: https://venmo.com/u/Susanna-Hodge.
RSVP dinner: #mondaydinner Slack channel – order by Friday to allow for shopping time, please!
Annual Stoa League Registration – required once per year in order to register for tournament events.
Info Flyer – XNIL Information flyer 2024-25
Handbook – XNIL Club Handbook 2024-25
Ex Nihilo Tournament Update – we haven’t given up on hosting our own annual tournament! Solidifying an affordable venue rental for the size needed, within the Stoa Calendar schedule restraints, is our challenge. If you know of a venue with 40+ rooms that could host a large tournament, connect us!
Questions? Email us at info@nihilo.club, and join the conversation at exnihilo-club.slack.com.
See you Monday,
Jessica Halfpap
for Ex Nihilo Speech and Debate
