This season's theme is Excellence. What does true excellence look like? Our guiding Bible verse for this year, Colossians 3:23-24, provides the perfect answer: 

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."

UPCOMING WEBINARS: (use the Join a Webinar QuickLink below)

November 9, 7PM CT: Everything Storytelling - From a Tournament Director to a student, we will tell you everything you need to know about Storytelling and have some time to answer questions.

November 23, 7PM CT: FAQs for Tournament Directors and Speech Events - Tournament Directors, do you have questions about the Wildcards or Literary Interp? Or maybe you are wondering how to use the Compliance Tool? We will answer these questions as well as questions regarding the Rulebook and adjudication.

STOATALKS:

Be sure to subscribe to Stoa’s YouTube channel to receive notifications when speeches are posted. Questions? Contact Becky at becky.kirkman@stoausa.org.

VINTAGE STOA MERCH:

If you want to get merchandise with the vintage/current Stoa logo before it is gone, please click here to access the Stoa Market from November 1, 2026 - November 21, 2026. Our new brand will be available in the new year.

• A new, fantastic tool for Mars Hill and Apologetics question generation! Students and coaches, use this for practice. Tournament Staff, use this to select, sort by round, and print your topics. You can find the link on the top navigation bar, or here. 
• Full details on MinistrySafe, who needs to complete training, and how to get started are available here. Need help? Contact StoaOffice@stoausa.org.
• Did you know we have all the StoaByte and Alumni Post newsletters in one place? Look in Resources - Support and News Hub. If you are not getting them in your inbox, and you want to, contact StoaAdministrator@stoausa.org to get your name added to the mailing list.