CAMp Updates
6.25.20 Update
It’s official!
After (what feel like) countless obstacles, hoops, and bureaucracy, we have gotten the green light to host NIHD 2020 this year at Twin Peaks Christian conference center, July 18-24. We are still in the process of establishing final details, so the site will be updated and registration will open at the beginning of next week (see the end of this email for more information).
In order to be compliant under county rules and get approval from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, the 13th Annual NIHD Camp will officially be returning this year as a day camp only. However, there are still a multitude of local housing options available, including right here at the Twin Peaks Christian Conference center. This housing process just has to be completely separate from our registration. NIHD will have a liaison set up to help everyone navigate the Conference Center’s website, where Twin Peaks housing will be available for purchase.
We will also be implementing a COVID action plan, which will include temperature checks and a questionnaire at check in. More details will be available on the website soon, but none of these steps should impede or substantially alter the NIHD experience. Aside from these formalities everything will still be the same, including the meal plan, facility, and schedule. Returning this year will be all 8 tracks and an outstanding faculty lineup, including Griffith Vertican, Heather Neumann, Eric Garcia, and Isaiah McPeak.
Because NIHD 2020 is now a day camp from a contractual standpoint, we are adjusting our pricing structure ahead of reopening registration. Given these unprecedented times, we are doing everything that we can to make the camp financially viable for anyone who wants to come. With help from our sponsors at Oak Brook College of Law, along with the Conference Center’s willingness to give us a deep discount, we are able to offer tuition at the lowest rate we’ve ever had through a scholarship package. We will have three registration options in total, as listed below:
1. The Day Package (same rates as the previous commuter package)
$535 per student
$335 per parent
2. The Scholarship Package (includes help with setup and breakdown as well as social promotion, more details coming to the site soon)
$385 per student
$185 per parent
3. The Contact Us! Option
If you need more financial aid than what the scholarship package would provide, please email us at nihdcamp@gmail.com for a financial aid application
We have negotiated a housing rate with the Conference Center of $80 per night, each room comfortably sleeping 6 people. For a 5 night stay, housing would then total $400. Families are still free to make shared housing arrangements among themselves (ie. a mother and daughter stays with another mother and daughter and splits the cost of the room), we just can’t officially provide housing ourselves. Families are encouraged to coordinate these details among themselves, and we have a liaison in place to help in those efforts.
Registration will be opening this Monday, June 29, and we’re encouraging everyone who would like to come to register immediately. We have lower overall capacity this year due to policy restrictions, and are only contracted for 75 participants total. As far as we can tell, we are the only speech and debate camp to be happening in person this summer, and while demand is high, space will be very limited. Make sure you lock in your spot by registering first thing on Monday.
For those who have already registered, your spots are guaranteed, and we will be working with you on applying the housing portion of your registration (if you paid for the full package) through the Conference Center instead. If you are pre registered and would like to get the scholarship registration rate, you can contact us via email at nihdcamp@gmail.com.
We know there has been a lot of waiting and uncertainty over the last months, and we are incredibly grateful for everyone’s patience. We’re still confirming various details on a daily basis, but we are committed to working with you to sort everything out and make it possible for you to come to camp this year. We truly have one of the best communities of all time, and we are so grateful for the doors that God has opened in making it possible for us to come together next month. To God be the glory!
The National Institute for Homeschool Debate
6.20.20 Update
We have another update for you! Over the last 10 days, we have spent countless hours ensuring NIHD 2020 is compliant with county guidelines. Having the county’s approval is a key factor in gaining the permission of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa (the parent organization that holds authority over the Twin Peaks Conference Center) for us to host a camp this summer. Our efforts have resulted in us getting official approval for a day camp, and now the sole issue is getting approval for overnight housing so that people can stay on campus.
This process has not been easy. California does not have a policy on overnight camps, so while Twin Peaks is approved as both a day camp location and an overnight housing location, current county guidelines would not allow it to serve as both at the same time. Obviously, this is a bit counterintuitive, so we have appealed to the San Bernardino county, where our request has worked its way up the channels to the Deputy Executive Officer of the County Administrative Office. He agreed with us that the facility would be compliant for both a day camp and overnight housing, and as a result he is working to get us official approval to do both this summer. Our appeal goes next to the Public Health Department director for San Bernardino county, who we were originally expecting to hear back from yesterday but who has since updated that timeline to Monday. We hope to have an answer for you by Monday, and will be sending another update at the very least.
While it has been a long and difficult process, the good news is that we have gotten official approval for a day camp at Twin Peaks, so we can move forwards either way. Having to find an alternate housing situation wouldn’t be ideal, but we are committed to hosting the camp this summer and welcoming all of our students to a wonderful week of fellowship, learning, and growth. We’ve been hard at work on our end drafting an official action plan, which includes sanitization and emergency protocol, and drafting a comprehensive proposal for official approval. We are seeking to blaze a trail in relatively uncharted territory, and we cannot express in words how much we appreciate all the patience, support, and prayers being offered by our incredible families. We know God is working in mighty ways, and we continue to trust this summer and this camp into His hands. God is good.
6.17.20 Update
We know many of you have been waiting to hear from us today regarding the date and location of NIHD 2020. While we have been working incredibly hard to finalize that answer for you all by the end of today (and were even close to having a green light on a final direction), additional issues with the county have come up within the last 24 hours and are requiring additional time to sort out. We are currently in contact with the county and supervisor’s office, and are doing everything we can to meet with them as soon as tomorrow morning. We already have a COVID action plan put together, and have developed guidelines for a camp that meets the needs of all of our various students and their families. This appears to be the final hurdle.
We’re emailing this evening to give you each an update on what’s going on, to ask for your continued patience, and (most importantly) to ask for your prayers. Know that we have been working an incredible number of hours behind the scenes within the last week alone to make NIHD 2020 happen, and we will continue to do so until we can send out the promised email with a finalized date and location. We appreciate each and every one of you, and look forward to spending time with you all soon.
6.10.20 Update
A Letter From the Director of NIHD 2020
Hey guys,
Coach Griffith here! We want to give you some great news and an update from behind the scenes of NIHD. We’ve been working hard to find a way to make NIHD 2020 possible, and are incredibly excited to report back to you all with some promising news.
Over the course of the past weeks, we’ve been in talks with our insurance provider, Conference Center Director Chris Berry, and Pastor Scott from Calvary Chapel Lake Arrowhead, all of whom are supporting our bid to host NIHD 2020 in person this summer. Today, I talked with our local sheriff and he communicated his full support for our camp as well, meaning that so far, we have unanimous support for moving forward.
The support of these key individuals represents major hurdles cleared, and this leaves us with just two final things to accomplish. First, we need to gain the approval of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, who will make the ultimate decision regarding our use of the conference center. Second, we need to set the camp’s date based on the facility’s availability and the date range that will work best for everyone.
We are currently looking at a 1 week camp within around a 5 week date range, with the camp falling somewhere between the weeks of July 19th and August 16th. As we’ve mentioned in previous updates, no matter what happens facility wise we are planning to host the camp in some form between the dates listed above. We plan to have a date and location finalized no later than June 17th, and you guys will be the first to know as soon as it’s established!
Thanks to these encouraging conversations and developments, it is looking more and more likely that an in person camp will happen this summer. We’ll be in good company, too: Disneyland is now scheduled to open July the 9th and the World Health Organization has just reported that asymptomatic people are not likely to spread the virus. All of these are pieces of good news in a continuing story of God’s grace. Our mission is to serve Him, and to that end we continue to commit NIHD 2020 into God’s hands. We are praying that each and every one of you are doing well, and we hope to see our wonderful students and their families soon!
Griffith Vertican
The National Institute for Homeschool Debate
6.1.20 Update
Here are the highlights as they currently stand:
The plan is still to do an in person camp on one of the two dates we mentioned, so make sure you keep those in mind!
It is our hope to have a more firm answer as to the date and location of NIHD 2020 within the next two weeks (we anticipate no later than June 17th).
We are planning to offer a virtual option, which will be concurrent with the camp date.
5.20.20 SUmmary
We currently have two possible locations and two possible dates.
Possible Locations:
Twin Peaks Christian Conference Center in Crestline, CA
Arizona, likely in the Scottsdale/Phoenix area
Possible Dates:
July 18-24, 2020 (originally listed date)
August 10-15, 2020 (alternate date)
A letter From the Director of NIHD 2020
Hey everyone!
Coach Griffith here. I want to give you an update on NIHD 2020, scheduled for July 18-24 at the Twin Peaks Christian Conference Center, and share an update from our end. At this unprecedented and uncertain time in our nation’s history, we’re seeking to balance public health needs with the spiritual and academic needs of our students. Now, we’re trying to balance how best to move forward with our 13th Annual NIHD Camp while working within government guidelines.
We certainly plan to do something, which will include one of a couple of options. We are currently evaluating whether we should offer a complete virtual option, whether we should stay the course with the hope that the state of California opens the opportunity for us to host the camp here or at a later date, or finally whether we should move its location to Arizona, where there are a lot fewer restrictions. We value the input and insights that our students and their families have shared as we seek the best way to serve Christ, our Stoa families, and those interested in speech and debate.
NIHD was started 13 years ago with the mission to fulfill 1 Peter 3:15, ensuring that we have a relevant response to the challenges we’re facing within our culture. Our spiritual theme for this summer is 2020 VISION - Clearly seeing God’s plan for your life. Our desire is to train, challenge, and equip competitors to be successful in both speech and debate so that they can be as prepared as possible when going into the world as champions for Christ.
One of the biggest uncertainties is the economic one, which has put many of our Stoa parents out of work. My own business took a drastic hit when the season was cancelled, so we understand that finances are tight. Thankfully, our primary sponsor, Oak Brook College of Law, has stepped up big time to offer financial support to families facing economic hardship. That is why we’re offering more financial aid than we’ve ever offered before. Being a pastor’s son, my family couldn’t afford for me to attend the life changing camps I did without first receiving financial support. At NIHD we wholeheartedly believe in the mission before us, and that is why we want to do what we can to get you to our camp. So, if finances are the issue for you, make sure you email us at nihdcamp@gmail.com to request a financial aid application.
NIHD has traditionally offered up to 8 different tracks for novices, advanced students, and parents/coaches in TP, LD, Parli, and speech. We’ve got special speakers lined up for this year’s camp ranging from Isaiah McPeak to Heather Neumann to Eric Garcia, all of which we still plan to host in some capacity. We’re writing a new casebook, which will once again feature many of our top alumni. Regardless of when and where it happens, we’re working hard to make NIHD 2020 our best camp yet! We appreciate each and every one of you, and we hope to be able to see you all soon!
In Christ,
Griffith Vertican
If you have any questions, ideas, or concerns, please feel free to email or call us at nihdcamp@gmail.com and (209) 380-9978!