Membership

Annual Registration is Open Now

Membership Benefits

Qualify for an invitation to participate in Stoa’s National Invitational Tournament of Champions (NITOC)
Participation in Stoa nationwide tournaments
Use of the National Christian Homeschool speech and debate rankings website: Speechranks
Access to club and tournament training, resources, and NITOC videos
Liability insurance is available for clubs and tournaments
Vote for Board members, debate resolutions, Wildcard speech events, and key organizational decisions
Monthly newsletter, the Stoabyte, with Stoa updates
Exclusive discounts at Staples and Office Depot
Explore dual credit opportunities with our sponsors

Cost of Membership

Membership opens annually on June 15th.

Early Family Registration (by September 30): $95.00 for families with at least one 12-18-year-old student competing at tournaments.

Family Registration (from October 1): $125.00 for families with at least one 12-18-year-old student competing at tournaments, regardless of the number of children.

Coaches Registration: $35.00 for Coaches/Parents/Alumni that do not have their own competing students.

Junior Registration: $35.00 for families with students 11 years old and younger who do not have older siblings competing.

Dues are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Eligibility

Stoa serves the privately educated, Christian homeschool community, respecting diverse homeschooling strategies.

Eligibility for Stoa and the National Invitational Tournament of Champions (NITOC):

Please remember that Stoa, not your local club leader, determines eligibility in Stoa. If you have any questions about eligibility please feel free to contact Stoa directly at stoaadministrator@stoausa.org. We recommend clarifying eligibility in advance of the season.

It is expected that a student registering for a tournament is able to compete the entire tournament season. Competitors joining Stoa shall meet the following criteria:

1. Age

Competitors shall be ages 12 to 18 on October 1st of the current season.

2. Statement of Faith

The parent member(s) must agree with the Statement of Faith.

There is one God eternally existing in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 3:16, Matthew 28:19, John 10:30, 2 Corinthians 13:14)
Man is sinful and therefore separated from God, who is holy and perfect. (Isaiah 53:5-9, Romans 3:23, I Peter 1:15-16)
Jesus Christ paid the eternal penalties for our sin through His death on the cross (Luke 24:46, I Peter 2:21)
Jesus Christ also resurrected bodily and ascended into heaven and will return one day to fulfill His kingdom. (Matthew 28:6, Revelation 19:11)
Only through Jesus Christ and the grace of His provision of salvation, may we be saved from eternal punishment, enter into God’s family and receive eternal life. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 6:23, Romans 8:11, I John 1:9)
The Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible and authoritative Word of God and the truth for Christian faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, John 17:17, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Psalm 19:7-11, John 6:67-69)

3. Home Educated

If the following statements can be affirmed with a yes, the student shall be deemed privately home educated for Stoa purposes:

Parent or legal guardian(s) direct the educational choices for the student, including the use of dual credit, online/offline courses, cooperative courses, private tutored courses, and other parent directed methods that support the student’s educational plan; and
Parent is the authority to award the Stoa competitor junior high or high school credits and grades; and
Under the laws of your state, if your state defines homeschooling, the student is classified as legally “homeschooled”; or if your state does not define homeschooling, the student is not enrolled in a public charter school or any type of K-12 public school educational program; and
Parent or legal guardian(s) are not the direct recipient of public funds (whether local, state, or federal) whose purpose is to cover the student’s education-related expenses.

Statement of clarification coming soon.

Level of Education:

Stoa student is classified as actively homeschooling as a junior high or high school student, and

not previously graduated,
nor taking college classes full time or the equivalent of full time (e.g. 12 hours/semester or 9 hours/quarter).

Stoa Position Paper on Private Home Education

→ We recognize that through the years, many meanings of homeschool have emerged.

→ We recognize that maintaining any definition of homeschool will result in some students being deemed ineligible.

→ We recognize that the way state and federal governments interact with homeschooling families changes with frequency.

→ We recognize that developing national eligibility standards limits our ability to adopt a definition that precisely accounts for every state’s policies on homeschooling.

→ We recognize that Christians hold earnest yet differing convictions regarding a homeschool family’s interaction with the state or federal government.

Private Homeschooling

We have adopted the term “privately homeschooled” in order to best describe the type of students and families Stoa was initially created to serve. Amidst the ever-shifting state and federal policies regarding homeschooling, Stoa leadership has sought to refine and clarify its language in order to uphold this value of private home education. Our desire is to offer a unique league for privately homeschooled students. By “privately homeschooled” we are referring to a family who educates their children at home without the assistance of direct government funding.

Why does Stoa limit its members to those who privately homeschool?

We have good reason to believe that when a family accepts direct government funding for home education, homeschoolers at large are at risk of government regulation.
1. See historical examples (link)1
2. See a few recent historical examples (link)2
3. Some have already observed increased regulations for fund recipients. (link)3
We have good reason to believe that when a family accepts direct government funding for home education, future homeschool freedoms could be in jeopardy.
1. Legislative initiatives that follow funding could be problematic. (link)
2. Strength in numbers, government infringement on homeschool autonomy. (link)
3. In the present, HSLDA shares our concern. (link)
Since we believe that increased government regulation (1) and the restriction of homeschool freedoms (2) would threaten our very ability to do that to which we feel so deeply called (home education), we humbly maintain that the wisest position for Stoa to take is to maintain our distinction as a privately homeschooled league.

A Note Specifically for California Families:

If California students are enrolled in any type of public-school program, (such as a charter school, an independent study program, or any source of education that is under the CA State Department of Education direction and/or funding), whether full-time or part-time and whether they attend at a school building or do their schooling at home, they are considered a “student of record” and not a privately educated student.

This can be seen specifically in two areas:

California Mandatory Attendance Law:

California has mandatory attendance laws; therefore, every school (public or private) must keep a record of attendance. “School of Record” means the school in which the child is enrolled for purposes of fulfilling the legal requirements for their mandatory attendance. If a child is enrolled (either part-time or full-time) in a public school (either traditional, charter or other) that school is considered the “school of record” for that child and therefore is responsible for their education. It also means that the school is also the entity contacted by government authorities to verify that the child is not truant. A public school will not allow for shared “educational custody”.

Educational Authority:

When asked the question: Can a student remain under their parent’s educational authority for their education as well as be enrolled in a charter school or some other type of California public school program?

The answer is no. In California, there is not a designation of “homeschool.” The only designations are “public” or “private.” A public school will always be given recognition over the private educator as a child’s education provider in the eyes of the state.

If a student is taking classes from a traditional public school or a charter school, then the student must be enrolled in that school. When enrolled in a public or charter school, the state has full authority over that child’s education because the parents have given the state full authority and responsibility (See Fields v. Palmdale 2005).

Most parents who enroll their children in public education programs are not aware that they are turning over this authority to the state. They assume they are still directing their child’s education, but legally, they are not.

Therefore, California students enrolled in a K-12 public-school charter program or any other type of state public school program fail to meet the letter of the law under numbers 1,2 and 3 of the Stoa statements regarding “Home Educated” in the Stoa Membership Eligibility requirements.

1 See Citation 3: Lynda Friesen, “Choice in Education,” National Advocacy for Private Education, (Oct. 1993), p29.

2 See Surely, ESAs won’t affect those homeschoolers not taking the money, will they?

3 See Is the backlash to homeschool beginning?

Position Statement

Marriage and Gender

In order to indicate our position on issues related to marriage and gender, Stoa’s Board of Directors has chosen to affirm the Nashville Statement.

Student Code of Conduct

I. Preamble

The mission of Stoa speech and debate is to train homeschool students to speak boldly and change the world for Christ. To accomplish this, we train students to uphold a biblical worldview through their conduct as well as their speech.

As a Christ-centered organization dedicated to a biblical worldview, Stoa requires each student to affirm and abide by this Code of Conduct. A student’s commitment to and ongoing compliance with this Code of Conduct, as amended from time to time, is an essential condition of his or her membership and participation in Stoa.

II. Student Character, Speech, and Conduct

At all times, in both public and private, a student must exhibit Christ-like character, following His example in word and deed. While we do not expect a student to be perfect, we do expect that he or she will strive always to be like Christ in a spirit of truth and humility. As the Apostle Paul said, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil. 3:12). Accordingly, each student must:

Advance Stoa’s mission and not act or speak in a way that undermines it.
Understand and respect, and not act or speak inconsistently with, the Stoa Statement of Faith, which is available at https://stoausa.org/events/membership-registration/.
Understand and respect, and not act or speak inconsistently with, Stoa’s position on marriage and gender, which consists of the “Nashville Statement” available at https://cbmw.org/nashville-statement.
Submit to the civil authorities of our country and obey its laws, consistent with the commands of a biblically-informed conscience.
Respect others in speech and actions. This means treating everyone with respect and submitting to those in authority over a student. A student’s speech—whether in person, in written communication, or on social media—must be decent, respectful, and Christ-honoring. Speech must never be profane, indecent, deceitful, abusive, or disrespectful of the Lord’s name.
Commit to academic integrity and ethical behavior in all areas of competitive forensics.

III. Conduct at Stoa Tournaments or Other Events

Stoa tournaments and events are an opportunity for students to compete, connect, forge friendships, and deepen their faith. In order to build an edifying community and foster a Christ-centered environment at Stoa tournaments and events, each student must:

Refrain from any use or possession of alcohol, tobacco, vaping and e-cigarettes, marijuana, pornography, and illegal drugs.
Refrain from any behavior that, in the opinion of Stoa, endangers the health, safety, or well-being of oneself or others.
Compete with integrity by being truthful, honorable, and complying with the rules of the competition.
Adhere to the dress code.

IV. Administration and Enforcement

Any student found by Stoa to be in violation of this Code of Conduct will be subject to discipline. Such discipline may include, but is not limited to: (i) formal or informal correction, (ii) conditions upon participation in Stoa tournaments and other events, (iii) conditions upon Stoa membership, (iv) probation or suspension from participation or membership, and/or (v) expulsion from participation or membership.

The interpretation, application, and enforcement of this Code of Conduct is solely within the discretion of Stoa, and no person shall be considered a third-party beneficiary or acquire any rights under this document. Stoa is committed to administering the Code of Conduct fairly and in a manner consistent with its identity and convictions as a Christian organization.

This Code of Conduct may be amended from time to time at the discretion of Stoa and its leadership. Stoa will endeavor to provide timely notice to students and parents of any material revisions.

CHRISTIAN HOMESCHOOL SPEECH AND DEBATE

MEMBERSHIP