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Clarion Forensics Speech Club Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect …1 Peter 3:15 |
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Turning the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.
Let your next home improvement project be the restoration of your family.
Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.
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 Clarion News Clarion Forensics Club meets in Grants Pass High School, 9th St and A St. in the Commons, on Tuesday nights from 6:30 to 8:30pm. The Medford Club has combined with Clarion Club. Over 50 students are enrolled for the 07-08 year. Speech Club Objectives The purpose of Clarion Forensics is to equip Christian homeschool students to communicate effectively. The elements of competition and companionship are used to motivate students to perform to the best of their abilities, as they develop skill and confidence for speaking the truth in love. With training, young people can become gracious ambassadors of faith to the culture and to future generations.
Club Membership
2007-08 Speech Coaches: John Sleadd, Richard Emmons, Brad McMurray Alumni Leaders: Nathan Sleadd, Christina Emmons, Victoria Emmons
Clarion Board: Richard Emmons, President richard@richardemmons.com Brad McMurray, Vice President bradrobin_5@msn.com Shelli Owen, Secretary elijah@ccountry.net Carla Deems, Treasurer carlamarlahotpad@charter.net Kathleen Emmons richard@richardemmons.com Bruce Owen elijah@ccountry.net Mark Deems teamdeems@charter.net
Contact any of the above board members for club news and updates
Click here for Speech Writing Techniques
Tournament InformationA calendar of tournaments will be posted as it becomes available.
Competitive Speech Categories (IE=Individual Events)Limited Preparation Interpretive Platform impromptu dramatic persuasive extemporaneous humorous expository apologetics duo original oration open thematic Debate: Team Policy (2-on-2) and Lincoln-Douglas (1-on-1)
Requirements for Participation in NCFCA-Eligible Tournaments
Supporting Scripture Colossians 3: 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom 1 Timothy 4: 13… devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 2 Timothy 4: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. 1 Peter 3: 15 …Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect …
Scholarship Fund Benefits Clarion Families An anonymous donation of $1000 was received this year for the purpose of helping Clarion families with their travel expenses. Three seniors were given scholarships $250 each for travel to Colorado Springs; they were Victoria Emmons, Colleen McMurray and Mary Owen. The remainder of the funds were used for expenses incurred by four families at the Seattle and Medford Tournaments. We are grateful for God’s provision and for the graciousness of this donor.
Another $3000 has been donated towards underwriting the Academic Camp. This has allowed us to greatly reduce the tuition for the camp, making it the lowest-priced camp being offered by Training Minds this year. Glory to God!
Local homeschool speaker places 2nd in nation June 20, 2007 Grants Pass, OR Representing the local Clarion Forensics speech club, newly graduated homeschool student Colleen McMurray has finished second in the nation in the Apologetics category at the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association tournament in Belton, Texas.
The national championships in debate and speech brought together 500 students from 34 states who had qualified for the event by placing in the top tier at 10 regional tournaments. Nearly 5,000 homeschooled students nationwide participate in NCFCA-sanctioned speech and debate clubs. The national event occurred June 11-15.
The daughter of Brad and Robin McMurray of Grants Pass, 18-year-old Colleen also placed 19th nationally in the Impromptu speech category.
In the Apologetics competition, students must prepare to address 99 possible questions about the Christian faith. After choosing three random questions from an envelope, the competitor chooses one and has four minutes to prepare a six-minute speech addressing the specific topic.
The National Christian Forensics and Communications Association was founded 11 years ago by Christy Shipe, daughter of Home School Legal Defense Association's Michael Farris, for homeschool high school students.
Emmons and McMurray Lead Club to Victory in Colorado Press Release April 22, 2007 Grants Pass, OR- Victoria Emmons and Colleen McMurray, both high school seniors, led a Clarion Club contingent of five students by receiving three and two medals respectively at the Gold Standard Regional tournament in Colorado Springs April 18-21.
Victoria Emmons Colleen McMurray Victoria Emmons received third place in Persuasive and fourth place in Dramatic Interpretive and Apologetics. Her high placements has earned her a slot at National Championships in all three events.
Colleen McMurray likewise qualified for National competition by placing second in Apologetics and in Impromptu. This is Colleen's second time to qualify for Nationals.
"We are very proud of our five students who made it to the Colorado meet, and we are so very excited to be sending, once again, two of our members to Nationals," said Arden Sleadd, coach of the club. "These girls are very humble servants of God who desire to use their talents best to serve Him. I'm sure both would concur with our club motto: Soli Deo Gloria (to God alone be the glory). They know it's not about winning; but it is gratifying to all of us when they do so well."
Both girls also placed as semifinalists in Duo Interpretive, with their part-
ners Natalie Emmons and Clairen Kearney. Natalie Emmons was also a
semifinalist in Apologetics. Mary Owen, also a senior from Grants Pass, took eighth place in Dramatic Interpretive. Ryan Anderson from Grants Pass also competed in Expository.
The Gold Standard Regional tournament was composed of 180 homeschool students who had qualified by placing at various state and local tournaments in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Colorado.
The National Championships are scheduled for June 11-15 in Belton, Texas. Clarion Forensics Club is an affiliate of the National Christian Forensics and Communications Association.
Thirteen Clarion Members Qualify for Regionals at Southern Oregon Meet
March 13, 2007 Grants Pass, OR- Victoria Emmons, Colleen McMurray and Alexa Sleadd headed the pack of thirteen Clarion Club members who qualified as finalists in their first hosted speech tournament held March 9-10 in Medford.
Victoria Emmons Colleen McMurray Alexa Sleadd
Miss Emmons, a senior homeschool student of Grants Pass, placed first in Original Oratory, Persuasive, Dramatic Interpretive and the Sweepstakes at the meet, which involved 42 students from Oregon and Washington. Miss Emmons also placed third in Duo Interpretive with her sister Natalie Emmons, and fourth place in Apologetics. Miss McMurray, also a senior homeschool student of Grants Pass, placed 1st in Apologetics and Impromptu and 2nd in Duo Interpretive with partner Clairen Kearney of Portland. Miss McMurray's overall points earned her a 2nd place medal in the Sweepstakes. Miss Sleadd, a freshman homeschool student of Grants Pass, took 1st place in Expository, 4th in Impromptu and 4th in Duo with her partner Stephanie Emmons. Her overall points placed her 4th in the Sweepstakes. Other Clarion members earning high placement were: Lacey Scott, 2nd place, Original Oratory; Kaila Anderson, 7th place in Apologetics; Natalie Emmons, 2nd place Apologetics and 5th Sweepstakes; Mary Owen, 2nd Dramatic Interpretive and 3rd Place Impromptu; Destiny Kruse, 2nd place Open Interpretive and 5th place in Duo with partner Karissa Anderson; Ryan Anderson, 3rd place Expository; Creighton Deems, 1st place Open Interpretive; Kyle Quaid, 3rd place Expository. A total of twenty-one Clarion members participated in the meet. Clarion Forensics, in its third year of existence, joined with Medford Speech Club to host the event. Both clubs are affiliated with the National Christian Forensics and Communication Association (NCFCA), a homeschool league.
APOLOGETICS 7th Kaila Anderson 6th Kelly Taylor 5th Karina Wells 4th Victoria Emmons 3rd Austin Kearney 2nd Natalie Emmons 1st Colleen McMurray
DRAMATIC INTERPRETIVE 4th Clairen Kearney 3rd Colton Best 2nd Mary Owen 1st Victoria Emmons
DUO INTERPRETIVE 5th Karissa Anderson & Destiny Kruse 4th Stephanie Emmons & Alexa Sleadd 3rd Victoria Emmons & Natalie Emmons 2nd Clairen Kearney & Colleen McMurray 1st Kelly Taylor & Sam Taylor
EXPOSITORY 3rd Ryan Anderson 2nd Leslie Reavely 1st Alexa Sleadd
HUMOROUS 3rd Ruth Owen 2nd Dan Taylor 1st Kelly Taylor I MPROMPTU6th Elizabeth Winslow 5th Sarah Chaffee 4th Alexa Sleadd 3rd Mary Owen 2nd Austin Kearney 1st Colleen McMurray
OPEN INTERPRETIVE 3rd Sarah Chaffee 2nd Destiny Kruse 1st Creighton Deems
ORIGINAL ORATORY 3rd Ezra Stockton 2nd Lacey Scott 1st Victoria Emmons
PERSUASIVE 5th Sarah Holst 4th Kyle Quaid 3rd Dillon Holst 2nd Lauren Reavely 1st Victoria Emmons
SWEEPSTAKES (TOP FIVE OVERALL) 5th Natalie Emmons 4th Alexa Sleadd 3rd Kelly Taylor 2nd Colleen McMurray 1st Victoria Emmons
FLEDGLING SPEECH CLUB QUALIFIES TWO STUDENTS
Medford Speech Club Members (clockwise from top left) Anna Holst, Dillon Holst, Joshua Oliveria, Ezra Stockton, and Bretton Howard at Medford tournament
Medford, OR- Dillon Holst and Ezra Stockton of Medford have qualified for Regional competition in the first-ever speech tournament of its kind held last weekend in Medford. The two homeschool students are members of Medford Speech Club, which is coached by Steve Holst. The club is in its first year of existence, and the students are both first-year competitors. "To send two students, who were competing for their very first time, to regional-level competition, is quite an accomplishment for such a young club," said Arden Sleadd, co-director of the meet. Dillon Holst placed third in Persuasive speech, while his sister Sarah Holst placed fifth in the same event. Dillon and Sarah are the children of Steve and Anna Holst. Ezra Stockton earned a third place in Original Oratory. Ezra is the son of James and Mary Stockton. Medford Speech Club joined with Clarion Forensics Club to host the event. Both clubs are affiliated with the National Christian Forensics and Communication Association (NCFCA), a homeschool league. For more information on Medford Club activities contact Steve Holst at sa7holst@clearwire.net.
RAINMAKERS FORENSICS CLUB OF PORTLAND, OR QUALIFIES EIGHT Portland, OR- Kelly Taylor, a junior homeschool student of Vancouver, Washington led eight of her club mates to victory at a speech tournament held in Medford, Oregon on March 9-10. The meet involved 42 contestants ages 12-18 from Washington and Oregon states. Miss Taylor, the daughter of Chris and Donna Taylor, received two gold medals in Humorous Interpretive and in Duo Interpretive with her brother Sam Taylor. She also earned 6th place in Apologetics, all of which garnered her third place in the Sweepstakes. Also receiving high rank from Rainmakers Forensics Club were: Clairen Kearney, 4th place Dramatic Interpretation and 2nd place Duo with partner Colleen McMurray; Austin Kearney, 2nd place Impromptu and 3rd place Apologetics; Lauren Reavely, 2nd place Persuasive; Leslie Reavely, 2nd place Expository; Colton Best, 3rd place Dramatic Interpretive; and Elizabeth Winslow, 6th place Impromptu. All eight contestants have qualified to the next level of regional competition in Colorado Springs, CO on April 19-21st. Rainmakers Club is affiliated with the National Christian Forensics and Communication Association, a homeschool league. For more information about club activities contact Gay Haugen at cghaugen@comcast.net.
Regional competition will take place APRIL 19-21, 2007 in Colorado Springs.
For more details see www.coveredbridgefm.org or email cbfm@charter.net.
Two More Qualified for Regionals: Clarion Members Shine in Seattle
Two students of Grants Pass, OR, were finalists in the Appletree National Open Forensics Tournament in Seattle, WA last week where 260 students from across the country came to compete. Alexa Sleadd, 13, placed sixth in Expository Speech for her presentation on "The Plight of the Snowflake Embryos". Mary Owen, 17, placed eighth in Dramatic Interpretation for her rendition of "The Scarlet Ibis". Both are now qualified to compete at the Regional championships April 19-21 in Colorado Springs, CO. Other students who represented Clarion at the NCFCA-affiliated tournament were: Tait Deems, Dylan Deems, Creighton Deems, Kolten Anderson, Kaila Anderson, Karissa Anderson, Destiny Kruse, Aaron Sleadd, and Ruth Owen. All are residents of Grants Pass or Central Point, OR. The National Christian Forensics and Communication Association (NCFCA) is a homeschool debate and speech league.
Watch 5-minute video of the trip (may take a few minutes to load the file)
Speech Students Get Ink in National News See article in World Net Daily here.
Colleen and Victoria have done it again! Six Clarion Club students from Southern Oregon attended the San Diego Tournament: Tait, Dylan and Creighton Deems; Kolton Anderson, Colleen McMurray, and Victoria Emmons. Colleen and Victoria have both qualified for Regional championships taking place in Colorado Springs. Colleen McMurray took highest honors by placing 3rd in Apologetics. She also was a semifinalist in Impromptu, and qualified for regionals in both events. Victoria Emmons was a semifinalist in Impromptu. We are very proud of the great performance of all our Clarion students.
NCFCA Tournament Schedule 2007 Region 3 January 4-6: San Diego Natl Open** February 7-10 Seattle Natl Open** Feb 16-17 Peak President's Day Debate Qualifier, Colorado Springs March 2-3 CO and MT (IE/TD) Qualifiers March 5-6 Cedarville, OH Natl Open** March 9-10: Southern Oregon Regional QUALIFIER* (Individual Events) Bethel Church at Vista Pointe, Medford, OR Sponsored by Clarion and Medford Clubs March 16-17: NCFCA Regional QUALIFIER*, DEBATE Portland, OR March 23-4: Seattle Regional QUALIFIER* IE/TP/LD March 23-4 Denver Qualifier IE/TP/LD March 29-31: Coeur d'Alene, ID QUALIFIER* April 19-20: REGION 3 REGIONAL INVITATIONAL Colorado Springs June 11-15 NCFCA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
*Qualifier: The top finalists (up to 8) in each category will be eligible to attend Regional Invitational in Colorado Springs, CO **National Open: the top one or two places will qualify for National Championship in June; those who "break" will qualify for Regional Invitational in April
Clarion Club members at the Rainmakers Tournament in Portland
NEW! Click Here to View Clarion Club 2006-07 Brochure
Colleen McMurray and Nathan Sleadd at the Gopher Hill Tournament in Seattle
Victoria Emmons with Myrna Shaneyfelt of Josephine Country Right to Life
San Diego National Open Tournament January 4-6, 2007 Six Clarion Club students from Southern Oregon attended the San Diego Tournament: Tait, Dylan and Creighton Deems; Kolton Anderson, Colleen McMurray, and Victoria Emmons. Colleen and Victoria have both qualified for Regional championships taking place in Colorado Springs. Colleen McMurray took highest honors by placing 3rd overall in Apologetics. She also was a semifinalist in Impromptu, and qualified for regionals in both events. Victoria Emmons was also a semifinalist in Impromptu.
2006 Events National Christian Forensics and Communications Association National Championship Tournament Patrick Henry College, Virginia June 5-9, 2006 Colleen McMurray and Nathan Sleadd competed with their duo interpretive speech. Colleen was a quarter-finalist with her expository speech. This was Nathan's second time to compete nationally.
Rainmakers Tournament West Linn, OR April 22, 2006 Clarion Club sent six members to compete in this tournament; four received medals, and two were finalists. Colleen McMurray: 1st Place, Expository Natalie Emmons: 3rd Place, Persuasive Aaron Sleadd: 3rd Place, Expository Mary Owen: 5th Place, Original Oration Alexa Sleadd: Finalist, Open Interpretive Stephanie Emmons: Finalist, Open Interpretive
Oregon State and National Right to Life Oratory Contests Salem, OR April 22, 2006 Nashville, Tennessee June 25, 2006
Victoria Emmons and Nathan Sleadd both qualified for the state competition by placing first and second place in Josephine County. Victoria Emmons went on to receive first place for Oregon, earning her $300 and an all-expenses-paid trip to national competition in Nashville, where she won 4th place in the nation!
Gopher Hill Tournament Bellevue, WA March 23-25, 2006
Aaron Sleadd, 14, received a 3rd place medal for his first-ever entry in competition in Humorous Interpretive Speech. Nathan Sleadd, 16, and Colleen McMurray, 16, who entered in Duo Interpretive Speech, won 1st place and will repeat their performance for the NCFCA National Tournament at Patrick Henry College in Virginia June 5-9. Colleen also received 2nd place in Expository Speaking, taking it to Nationals as well.
Previous Year's Events
Rainmakers Regional Speech Tournament Portland, OR, February 2005 Six Clarion club members competed in nine separate events, and four of them placed in the finals. Nathan Sleadd, shown at right, qualified to compete in the national tournament with his original speech entitled "Perceptions of Heaven."
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