NITOC Nightly News, May 24th

Roll out the Red Carpet!
Tomorrow is the finale of NITOC 2019! Our volunteer teams and parent judges have worked hard to produce NITOC 2019 starring the best and brightest student speakers in the country. It promises to be a day full of celebrating Stoa’s 10th anniversary.

And the Nominees are…
Come to the Pilgrim Chapel for 7:30am for our last morning devotional and to hear speech and debate breaks!

Paparazzi!
As a courtesy notice to our competitors, Stoa will be videotaping some of the finals rounds of our speech and debate events.

Watch Parties!
For friends and family that are unable to be present, we will be having a live stream through the Stoa Speech and Debate Facebook page.
If you are able to join us at DBU for the award ceremony, we anticipate a very full house. Please consider enjoying the live stream of the awards ceremony from the Rogers Theater and the Sadler Ballroom on the lower level of Pilgrim Chapel.

Awards!
Tomorrow is the night! Join us in the Pilgrim Chapel Sanctuary at 7pm for the NITOC 2019 Awards Ceremony!
We ask that student competitors make sure to grab a seat in our reserved sections on the main floor of the chapel. Please be in tournament attire for the ceremony.

We would like to thank the Academy… Stoa Academy!
While tomorrow is the close of NITOC, you won’t have to be away from your Stoa community for long. July 25th – 27th will be Stoa Academy in Evergreen, Colorado! Registration is now open at https://stoaacademy2019.homeschooldebate.net/

We would also like to thank DBU for hosting us this week, the judges who carried the ballots to make this possible, and all our volunteers for their service.

Your NITOC 2019 Tournament Directors,

Pam and Danny Eldridge

FRIDAY 3:15PM

NEED SPEECH JUDGES IMMEDIATELY - PLEASE COME AND GET A BALLOT FOR SPEECH SEMIS!! WE NEED PARENTS TO HELP

NITOC Nightly News May 22nd

Party Time!

WE CANNOT EXPRESS HOW GRATEFUL WE ARE FOR OUR PARENT JUDGES’ SERVANT HEARTS.
Seriously, to every parent that took ballots today, thank you so much! We put in the hard work today and tomorrow we party!

Parking Lot Party!
Due to a DBU event tomorrow on campus, we will not be using the Nation or Sadler Global Mission buildings for most of the day. Please do not park near these buildings or attempt to access them until we start using them for competition again later in the afternoon.
There will be NO parking available outside of Pilgrim Chapel. Like nothing, na-da, zip, zilch. 0 parking for Stoa! DBU security will be enforcing this. So in the morning, please join the parking lot party that will be unfolding in the lot outside of the main entrance. Everyone, including staff, will need to park in the open lot at the main entrance or in Lot 14 and receive a shuttle ride up to Pilgrim Chapel. You are still welcome to drop off, as long as you follow the instructions provided by safety and security.
We will not announce breaks until we have the morning round balloted. Please plan on arriving at 7am to help us get going on time!

Party Favors!
Don’t leave NITOC without something to remember it by! We have Stoa coffee tumblers for $10, Stoa water bottles for $7, and commemorative coins for $10 at the information desk!

Party doesn’t start until you walk in!
We have had several rooms this week where judges have been kept waiting. If you are in 1-2 events in a pattern, please go immediately to your speech rooms so judges aren’t waiting 30 minutes for a cross competitor to have already done other speeches. LD Flight 2, please be mindful of the time and be at your room before the first flight ends.

Adding to Our Party with Timers!
It's not too late to reserve the best seat in the house for Debate and Speech out-rounds! Think of this as free training to help YOU improve your speaking skills. Timekeepers aged 14 and up are needed during out-rounds 5 through finals in Parli Debate, LD Debate, Team Policy Debate, AND during Speech quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. Of course, if you break in these events, then you will have a good reason to hand your timing spot over to someone else! Please visit the timer table in the lobby of Pilgrim Hall. You can also email Mrs. Stunkel, [email protected]. There may be candy involved :)

Please pay attention to signs that say “DO NOT TOUCH” and “NO STUDENTS ALLOWED”. There are plenty of places on campus to congregate, but make sure that you are cleaning up after yourself and respecting this beautiful facility! Thank you to all the students that stayed and cleaned up after their friends in the Great Hall at 10:07pm!

Social Party!
Come to the Burg (the DBU Gym) tomorrow at 8pm for the NITOC 2019 Social!

  • Dancing! By popular demand, for our 10th Anniversary, dancing is back at NITOC! Our Thursday evening member social is going to include a Ceilidh! What is a Ceilidh you may ask? A Ceilidh (pronounced "Kay-lay", with emphasis on 1st syllable) is derived from the Gaelic word meaning a 'visit'. Typically, a Ceilidh is an evening of informal, wholesome, easy to learn Scottish traditional country group dancing. So, come and learn how to do something new while having a lot of fun in the process and make sure you don’t miss out on this fantastic time!
  • Popsicles! There will also be Steel City Pops! These gourmet popsicles are made from the freshest, all-natural or certified-organic ingredients that are harvested locally where possible.
  • Meet and Greet with the Board! Your board of directors will be at the social and want to meet you!
  • Socialize! Connect with friends from across the country, take pictures in front of our photo backdrop, and enjoy some down time between rounds!
  • Dress: Tournament attire is not required. Plan to bring a modest change of clothes so you can comfortably participate!

We look forward to continue celebrating 10 years with you tomorrow!

Your NITOC 2019 Tournament Directors,
Danny and Pam Eldridge

WEDNESDAY, 5/22

We need 65 judges please!!

Student meals will no longer be served in the Great Hall of the Mahler Student Center. Students, please use the Crowley Dining Hall for your meals throughout the rest of the week! Parents, we will still have a meal service for you in the Sadler Room.

WE NEED JUDGES FOR DEBATE OUTROUND 2 TO START!

NITOC Nightly News: May 21st

D-B-U Facilities!

Isn’t this campus great? DBU loves to host us and we want to be gracious guests! So here is the D-B-U to keep in mind tomorrow on campus.

D - Do use the DBU shuttle buses and golf carts!
DBU shuttle buses are available for Stoa to use! Golf Carts are prioritizing judges first, spectators with hindered mobility second (we want your grandparents to watch you), and everyone else third. Please use the stairs/sidewalks between the Mahler Student Center and Pilgrim Chapel. By going around the Mahler Student Center and walking on the grass, not only is it a more difficult journey, but it also poses hazards to the shuttles and carts using the road. Please stay safe and remain on the sidewalks. We also have a few BFF openings for Wednesday that need to be filled. Please email [email protected]. or text Diana Callaway at 425-503-8303

B - Beware the Blue Cones!
The blue cones are to mark off danger spots or close off an area. Please do not move them.

U – Untouched and Undisturbed.
Or pick your favorite word from the thesaurus that means CLEAN: “unpolluted, unsmudged, unsoiled, unspotted, unstained, unsullied, untarnished”
• At the end of each day, we are all in Williams together. Please leave room for fellow competitors to get their displays in and out of the rooms and clean up after yourself.
• In student areas, please throw trash into trash cans. We want to be leaving spaces at the end of the day looking like we were never there!
• Fish are Friends. The koi that call the pond between Mahler and Pilgrim Chapel home would like to be left undisturbed. Fish are friends. Not food, Not to be petted, Not to have rocks thrown at the them.

DBU Tour Times for Wednesday
9:00 am Campus Tours - register at https://whydbu.dbu.edu/patriot-experience.html
2:00 pm Campus Tours
3:00 - 4:00 pm DBU Information Session – “Follow the Call” by Dr Wayne Davis, Dean of the College of Christian Faith. Held in the Tom Landry Welcome Center Media Room.

Keep the Speech Streak!
Parents, we can not tell you enough how much we appreciate you! Thank you for judging! It is all because of you that we were able to panel 3 judges for every speech room in every speech round so far. Tomorrow we want to keep the streak alive and successfully panel speech and debate outrounds. Rest up tonight, fill up your coffee mug tomorrow morning, and we will get right back at it!

Seniors
If you didn’t make it to the Senior table on Sunday during check-in to grab your Senior goodie bag, please come to the information desk in the Pilgrim Chapel foyer during the day tomorrow! We want to get it to you!

Morning Announcements will at 7:30am sharp! We have some announcements, a morning devotional, and of course: debate breaks to share!

For more announcements and communication, check the announcements tab of the NITOC 2019 website and the Stoa Speech and Debate Facebook regularly.

TUESDAY, 5/21/2019

Need Judges!

Please head to ballot push for TP/LD Round 6 ballots!

3:00pm

With our cross competitors criss-crossing campus, we are having a few rooms where judges are waiting extended periods of time to hear the first speaker! If you are only in 1 or 2 events of the pattern, please get to your room as soon as postings go up! 🙂 Your judges are so excited to hear you speak!

2:15pm

  • We need 15 more judges for Speech B Round 1! Grab a friend and come on down to Ballot Push!

2:00pm

*Restrooms are now OPEN in Pilgrim Chapel!

1:30pm

  • We need judges for the speech round B1...parents PLEASE go to ballot push!

10:35am

  • There are NO restrooms available in Pilgrim Chapel building at this time. Please use restrooms in Mahler Student Center (Chick-fil-A building) or other competition buildings before returning to Pilgrim Chapel.
  • Lunch will be served between 11:00am-1:30pm.

We are on a tight schedule throughout the rest of the morning and afternoon. Students may need help managing their time and meals today during lunch service 11am-1:30pm. There will be to go boxes available, and parents may pick-up TO GO meals for their students. The schedule allows a full 30-minutes for dinner tonight 6:30-7pm.

  • If you are first to arrive at a competition building, and it is locked, please contact DBU Campus Security directly at (214) 333-5555 OR 5-5-5-5 from any campus phone.
  • Cross Competitors

Stoa TRAX does not allow for the (xe) to be noted next to the names of cross competitors. Students are encouraged to make sure they are getting to their rooms so we are not keeping judges waiting, but we also want judges to be aware that there could be multiple cross competitors in a room working hard to get to all their speeches within a round. Thank you ahead of time for your grace and patience.

*For more announcements and communication, check the announcements tab of the NITOC 2019 website and the Stoa Speech and Debate Facebook regularly.
We are having some technical difficulties with the text alerts and only android phones are receiving push notifications through the app.

NITOC NIGHTLY NEWS 5/20/2019

MOVING AND GROOVING

We are moving and grooving everybody! To assist with smoothing our moves and reducing the grooves, we have some announcements.

Making it back to campus tomorrow! Parking Instructions!
No one without a NITOC staff sticker, handicap placard, or being a community judge may park in the Pilgrim Chapel parking lot. No exceptions. Our safety staff will ask you to turn away, please obey them in this. Anywhere else is fair game with the knowledge that we are sharing the campus with other events, summer students, and faculty. We want to be good stewards of DBU’s campus so please use good manners and common sense while parking: stay off of curbs, sidewalks, and stay in one space per vehicle (even 37 passenger vans). We have a plethora of shuttles and busses moving people from the lower lots please avail yourselves of this service we are providing, this brings fewer headaches than circling the upper lots.

Drop off without too much stop!
You may drop off, in the morning, in front of the Pilgrim chapel or in front of Williams. Please, Please, Please pay attention to your surroundings especially when it is raining. There will be carts, children and adults milling around. Pull up against the curb, do not double park as you will hold up everyone and you will be asked to move and circle around again. Be aware of do not enter signs, they are there to make the traffic flow smoother. Once your children are dropped off, please follow the rules about Parking given above. There are over 500 competitors, if you all want to drop off last minute, please understand there will be delays and it will be faster to park below and take a shuttle/cart. Do not get angry or frustrated with the safety staff directing traffic, we are doing our best to keep EVERYONE safe. Plan your arrival accordingly.

Move in the Right Direction! Ask for Directions!
If you still feel unfamiliar with buildings and locations after today, please check the DBU map and don’t be afraid to ask for directions. The facilities team wearing vests on the golf carts will be happy to direct you.

For Cross Competitors that GO GO GO!
Parent Judges, please help our community judge friends understand that our cross competitors may be delayed in arriving to their competition rounds.

Even the Food is on the Move!
Students who are doing multiple events need to spend time tonight and map out when they will eat their meals. If it is needed, parents can go through the line in the Crowley Dining Hall and put together a to go box for these hungry high achievers! With a little planning we are confident that everyone can eat.
If you find yourself in line for food in the Great Hall, think: Do I need to be stopped here? And start moving to the Crowley Dining Hall! There’s a pizza station there!

For when you need to “go”…
We have a few buildings with limited restroom facilities (Williams, Blackerby, Crowley Dining Center), so please make use of the restrooms in buildings like the Mahler Student Center, Collins Learning Center, and the Pilgrim Chapel.

Nothing can stop us!
We have some AMAZING Stoa competitors! Thank you for having such a positive attitude and bringing your energy into this NITOC 10th anniversary celebration! We are using dorms in order to minimize the stress on cross competitors to have to span the entire campus and to make sure that props don’t have to travel across the parking lot to get from the storage room to the competition room. However, we do know that this can be a little tight. Thank you especially to our expository and demonstration competitors for your flexibility and joy to be here and compete!

Plan to be here on time! We are monitoring the weather.

Your NITOC 2019 Tournament Directors,
Danny and Pam Eldridge

MONDAY, 5/20/2019

5:22pm

NEED 50 Judges for TP/LD Round 3

2:47pm

NEED Judges for Speech A-1 Pattern

10:50am

Mandatory Extemp Meetings in Collins, Library, Main Floor
11:10 am OR 1:00 pm

SUNDAY, 5/19/2019

NITOC NIGHTLY NEWS: ALL ABOARD!

Good Evening this is your captain- I mean Tournament Directors speaking. We have a great itinerary for the first day of NITOC 2019 tomorrow. Read through this nightly news for what you need to know about our full schedule of activities on Day 1!

Rise and Shine! We will be starting bright and early! Shuttles will transport families from the competitor parking lots near the main entrance to the Pilgrim Chapel starting at 7:00am. Morning announcements will happen in the Pilgrim Chapel at 7:30am! A little birdie told us there will be some big news about next year shared with the devotional, so be the early bird that gets the worm.

As we go into our first round, please check the DBU map on the NITOC website to know where buildings are. The bolded names for buildings on the map should match your posting sheet. If you need help, there will be facilities volunteers in golf carts able to direct you or help you get where you need to go! As we enter all the rooms tomorrow for competition, please DO NOT move furniture other than adjusting the room to switch from debate to speech.

Speech Check In at 10am
At 10am, if you are in speech and have not checked in yet, we will have a time for you to go through check-in in the lobby of the Pilgrim Chapel. If you did not order a shirt or hoodie and now want one after seeing how awesome they are, we will have a table to take orders until 12pm.

Parli Competitors, your first round will be 10am!
The resolution will be announced in the Pilgrim Chapel. Make sure you have read the “Parli Competitors please read” tab of the NITOC 2019 website. For your prep time, we have a network set up for you.

Wifi Network: STOA
Password: N1TOC2019
Speech Students, your first round will start at 3:30pm!
Extemp Mandatory Extemp Meetings are at 11:10am and 1:00pm. If you are an Extemp competitor, you must attend one of these two sessions. First Extemp draw of the day will be at 3:30pm, so make sure to check postings when they go up!

Expository and Demonstration speakers, here is your reminder that your props and displays are stored in the Williams Hall Dormitory which is the same building your will be competing in. We are a little tight in these rooms, so you want to make sure you have a spot to store your stuff!

Foodies
- Lunch will be served from 11:00am-1:30pm and Dinner will be served from 4:30pm-7:00pm. Your tickets (whether student or parent) can be used at any location, so go where the line is shortest to make sure everyone can fuel up in between events. DBU will also have their food services available tomorrow at the campus Chick-Fil-A, Mooyahs, and Coffeeshops.

- The three locations where you can redeem your meal tickets are:
o The Student Cafeteria located in Mary Crowley Complex
o The Great Hall of the Mahler Student Center (where check-in was today)
o The Sadler Room in Pilgrim Chapel (where judges will be – this is a parents only area)

- Some things that are NOT on the menu:
o PEANUTS! We have a competitor in the Stoa family that has a severe airborne peanut allergy. Please do not bring snacks containing peanuts.
o CROCKPOTS. We know we love them for when we have family dinners at home, but here at DBU we ask that our families not bring and set-up crockpots in our judge or student areas.

To make sure you are not missing any news throughout the day, subscribe to NITOC text message alerts by texting “STOA” to 55222 or check out the communications page of the NITOC 2019 website.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the opening ceremonies. Erin Attaway, our Stoa Spirit Award recipient, were able to see the live stream and were so blessed by your encouragement and prayers. She is cheering y’all on and we want to continue to pray for her!

Your NITOC 2019 Tournament Directors,
Danny and Pam Eldridge

SATURDAY, 5/18/2019

NITOC Nightly News: May 18, 2019

Twas the Night Before NITOC…. and all through the house, every printer was printing, every computer, a mouse. All the bags were packed, all the suits hung with care, in hopes that the tournament soon would be there! The families were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of food plans danced in their heads. And mom with the website and I with the Stoa App, had just settled down to see the DBU map.

NITOC 2019, the 10th anniversary celebration of Stoa, starts tomorrow at 4pm!
Families are invited to park outside the Pilgrim Chapel at the top of the hill right where the action will be taking place!

Your Guide to Check In:
Check-In will open at 4pm in the Great Hall of the Mahler Student Center. Come in through the doors to pick up your packet, swag bag, and the shirts/hoodies you ordered! As you circle the room, we have plenty of great tables for you to check out!

Stop at the timer table where students ages 14 and up can volunteer to have a front row seat to debate and speech outrounds!

Continue on to the BFF (Building Facilitator Friends) table! The Facilities Team (Team Awesome) will have signs ups for adults to help drive golf carts and monitor buildings.

Seniors! Next up, we have a table entirely dedicated to you. We want y’all to be connected throughout your last tournament!

Make sure that you grab a water bottle and/or a challenge coin at the merchandise table before you leave!

As you exit the Great Hall into the Mahler Student Center, you will find the DBU Food Services counter with your meal plan tickets. If you ordered through Stoa’s form, you will need to provide payment to receive your tickets. Once you have those, you are done with check-in and ready to head to the BBQ!

BBQ Dinner! The welcome BBQ will be held in Lot 14, which you can find starred on the DBU Map. Golf Carts will be helping shuttle people to and from the Student Center/Pilgim Chapel.

Demo and Expos Storage in Williams Hall! Demonstration and Expository speakers, make sure to store your props, carts, and easels in Williams Hall during check-in from 4:00pm-5:40pm.

Opening Ceremony will begin at 6pm!
You do not want to miss this event! Immediately following it, we will once again return to the Great Hall to enjoy dessert at the Founder’s Reception. Everyone is invited!

… We sprang to our vans and to teams gave a whistle, and away the tournament started with hustle and bustle. The TD’s exclaimed as they came into sight,
“HAPPY NITOC TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOODNIGHT”

We look forward to seeing you at NITOC 2019 tomorrow!
Danny and Pam Eldridge
NITOC 2019 Tournament Directors