Amazing Staff!

Camp Instructors

Founder and President: Griffith William Vertican Esq.

Coach Griffith is the director of the National Institute for Homeschool Debate (with an average of 150 participants for a week-long camp for over 10 years NIHD is the largest in the nation), he is also a licensed attorney and one of the most successful debate coaches in America. He himself won our nation's largest collegiate debate tournament the NPDA in 2007. Students who attended his camps have won every division of debate and the overall tournament champion award. Students he personally coached took 1st place in TP Debate (Jeffrey Pistor) and 1st, 2nd, and 6th place in LD Debate at 2018 NITOC Championships. He's coached 10 different national champions in all three forms of debate, and the 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022 LD national champions were all his students.

Gary & Georgia Vertican
Camp favorites, Coach Griffith's parents will be joining us again this year! Mr. Vertican will be leading chapel sessions, and along with his wife is looking forward to meeting each of you this year. Mr. & Mrs. Vertican have been a special encouragement to parents in past years and will be involved with our parent track again this year!

*Isaiah McPeak is unfortunately unable to join us this year in person.

*Sara Kempston

Sara competed in Stoa speech and debate for six years, striving for excellence in every speech, every round, and every tournament. By the time she finished her sixth year, she'd been to tournaments in over seven states, learning invaluable lessons and skills. Sara specializes in Team Policy and Parliamentary Debate, as well as the limited prep speech events. She's passionate about using her skills for the advancement of God's kingdom and reinvesting into the community that invested so much into her. She can't wait to contribute to the learning and growth of the awesome students at NIHD!

Ethan Blount

Ethan has competed in Speech & Debate across the US for five years in which he made it to nationals all five years. He won the national Parliamentary Debate Speaker title in 2017 and in 2018 he won the national title in Extemporaneous Speaking. He won over 100 awards in many other events ranging from Apologetics and Demonstration to Original Oratory and Impromptu – including over 30 First Place awards. In all of his different forms of speaking, he appreciates the power and utility of oratory and understands that its true purpose is for the Glorification of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Benjamin Arroyave

Benjamin spent six years in Speech and Debate, competing nationally and internationally. He participated in all forms of Speech, as well as Lincoln Douglas and Parliamentary Debate. He won tournaments in Extemporaneous, Apologetics, and Expository and became the 2022 NITOC Champion in both Lincoln Douglas and Parliamentary Debate. He believes that God receives honor when students seek the truth and learn to articulate it in a persuasive way. Benjamin can help you take your speaking to the next level by helping you improve the content of your speeches or debate cases, develop effective briefs (with evidence!) against common arguments, sharing preparation strategies, and showing you how to find and leverage your unique strengths for the best chance of success.

Charis Baker

After falling in love with debate at 12, Charis competed in Stoa for five years, participating in every event that Stoa offered. She broke to finals in many speech events, finishing her career by competing in Extemporaneous finals at NITOC. During her senior year, Charis placed in the top two Lincoln Douglas Speakers at seven tournaments, going on to become the 2023 Lincoln Douglas Speaker Champion. Charis won Lincoln Douglas and Parliamentary Debate finals at numerous tournaments during her career.

Having coached for the past 4 years, Charis' primary goal is to cultivate skills that enable young people to clearly and confidently speak truth to a broken and hurting world. Charis' goal is "that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" as 1 Peter 2:9 says. In a culture that will surround them with darkness, Charis prays that there will be a people who cannot help but proclaim the light.

Benjamin Rutten

Benjamin Rutten competed in speech and debate for five years and attended Nationals in his latter four. Ben has come far since he was a novice student at NIHD camp in 2019. Since 2019, Ben has achieved over 40 1st place tournament finishes across all four limited preparation speech events, various platform speeches, and debate. Ben has gone 6-0 in Team Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Parliamentary debate six times. He has gone deep in elimination rounds at Nationals in all three, has was won tournaments in all three, and has won speaker points in all three. At Nationals in 2023, Ben argued his way to the final round of Parliamentary Debate. In 2024 Ben won the Extemporaneous Speaking Championship title at Nationals. He knows what it takes to compete at the highest level. Ben currently holds the league record for the most number of Mars Hill tournament wins with 12 and has received the Tournament Champion award four times. Ben has competed in six states and has a deep understanding of the nuances within the various Stoa regions. Ben will continue his pursuit of excellence by joining Patrick Henry College’s debate team in the Fall of 2024. Much can be accomplished in five years but success takes work. Success takes sacrifice. Ben is here as a resource for students who have a hunger for improvement. Whether a student is a novice, searching for his or her first winning record, or a fifth-year debater hoping to win Nationals, Ben is honored to help these students achieve their goals.

Eliana Clerie

Eliana has competed in debate for six years, beginning with five years in STOA and one year in the colligate circuit. She had a five-year career in Team Policy debate, competed in parliamentary debate for two years, and in original oratory for one year. She has won multiple tournaments and speaker awards in Team Policy, parliamentary debate, and original oratory. Her goal is to inspire the next generation to speak winsomely, think critically, and communicate honestly, always giving glory to God regardless of the competition results.

Vivien White

Vivien is passionate about reaching the next generation of competitors and teaching them to seek the truth, speak the truth, and surrender the results. She is the 2024 NITOC Tournament Champion, 2024 NITOC Speech Sweepstakes Champion, and the 2023 NITOC Persuasive Champion. She holds 43 First-place finishes and is ranked 1st in the Nation. She has a desire for competitive excellence and strives to give God the glory in victory or defeat.

Ben Copeland
Ben Copeland is the 2024 Lincoln Douglas Debate Champion and we are so excited to have him join us this summer!

Hudson Winchel

Hudson (also known as Bucky!) participated in 11 events throughout his 5-year Stoa journey. Throughout his senior year, he achieved 113 qualifying checkmarks. He has won 25 tournaments in different events, including Apologetics, Impromptu, Original Oratory, Persuasive, Parliamentary Debate, and Team Policy Debate, and became the 2023 NITOC Parliamentary Speaker champion. He has been awarded Tournament Champion at multiple tournaments and ended the season ranked 3rd in the nation overall. Hudson feels incredibly blessed to have been a part of Stoa, and throughout his speech and debate journey, he has been equipped with skills that he strives to ultimately use for God’s glory. Through coaching, he seeks to equip others to be not only proficient speakers but also honorable ones. And ultimately strives to teach others to develop skills for God's kingdom and Christ's glory.

Ryan Shipley
Ryan competed in Stoa speech and debate for six years, where he developed a strong foundation of communication skills. During his Stoa years, Ryan competed primarily in Team Policy, Parliamentary Debate, and limited prep speech events. After graduating in 2021, Ryan finished his bachelor’s degree in Communications and built his own media and marketing company, where he and his team seek to ignite brands and images through world-class media products. Ryan is committed to building the Kingdom of God, and he is looking forward to the opportunity to help competitors develop their communication skills at the 2024 NIHD camp.

NIHD Staff

Administrator: Sara Kempston & Charis Baker