Purpose
Sandra Bateman, the founder of sWord Speech & Debate, had a vision for all Stoa students. Her vision was that they would take their speech and debate training skills far beyond the Stoa boundaries and out into their communities to serve, bless, and communicate for God’s glory. This was the motivation which inspired her to create the Community Service Award and now, in her memory, we continue the tradition of giving out this very special award each year at Centennial State Tournament.
Eligible Activities
Applicants may list activities such as volunteer work for political campaigns, Sunday school, museums, libraries, legislatures, non-profit organizations, etc. Not eligible, are activities in support of speech/debate clubs, tournaments in which you were a competitor, nor activities for which you received compensation.
This award is not based on the amount of hours volunteered. It is more about the creativity and the heart behind the service.
Application Instructions
The application will prompt you to provide a short descriptive paragraph for each activity. You may list more than one activity in your submission as long as you provide a separate description and accounting of hours for each activity. Remember, your writing should communicate as well as your speaking.
For our 2025 application, all activities/hours had to have been accumulated between
 February 1, 2024 and February 1, 2025. Applications are due no later than February 9th at 10pm.