• Setup:

  This status is used while the tournament is still being setup.

• Open:

  This status means tournament registration is open. Families can register for the tournament.

• Drops Only:

  This status means only registration drops are allowed. There are no new entries allowed but families can drop entries.

• Closed:

  This status means registration is currently closed for the tournament. There are no adds or drops allowed. Please contact the tournament director with any questions.

• Completed:

  This status means the tournament is completed.

COMMUNITY JUDGES

April 25th through April 26th

Our goal is to help these student hone their communication skills. We want them to be able to communicate with "the man/woman on the street". No experience or prior knowledge is necessary!
We are looking for people from the community to volunteer as judges. Serving as a judge is truly both enjoyable and rewarding. Caution: You might get hooked!
We have over 100 community judge slots to fill, having your help is a huge blessing!

How does it work?
You would be listening to a round of speech given by 12 - 19 year olds from the homeschool community at large.

You will receive a brief speech orientation 45 minutes before your round begins. You would be assigned a room with 3 - 8 speeches. You will listen to those speeches and then use the guidelines we provide to decide which speech was most persuasive/polished down to which needs the most work. You can give feedback on the paper ballots we provide.

Am I Qualified?
Yes! Any adult (age 18 and over) willing to be a judge is qualified. A training session is provided prior to each event to guide you in your role as a judge. The training session requires your attendance, so Please arrive 45 minutes before your scheduled judging time.

Dates and Times
April 25 - 26, 2025

Judges would need to commit approximately 2-3 hours.

Tournament Hours: Time slots are available all through the day. You do NOT have to stay all day!

• Friday, April 25, 7:30 AM - 8:30 PM
• Saturday, April 26, 7:30 AM - 6:30 PM

When you go to the Community & Alumni Judge Registration link, you will be given several time slots to choose from each day. If you decide to stay and help after your first judging round, just visit the ballot table for instructions.

How to Register
You can commit today by using the Community & Alumni Judge Registration link.

Tournament Location
First Landmark Baptist Church
206 SE 28th St
Bentonville, AR 72712

Thank You
As our gift to you, our Judges' Hospitality room is open all day to relax in, offering complimentary meals and coffee and snack options for you to enjoy.

Thank you for considering serving as a judge at our tournament. We appreciate your time and contribution to investing in the lives of the next generation. Volunteers from the community are a valuable asset in improving our students' public speaking skills!

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

March 27: Registration opens at 8:00amCST

April 6th: Registration closes at 11:59pmCST
April 7-14: Wait lists will be addressed and communicated
Scripts Due: April 15th, 2025 by 11:59 pm
Script Corrections Due: April 17th, 2025 by 11:59 pm

April 16th: Last day to change Meal Registration

If you missed registration, please contact penandsword.ar@gmail.com

Patterns are listed on the Schedule page but are subject to change based on registration.

Registration Fees
Speech Event - $30 for first event, $15 for each additional event
Parliamentary Debate - $40 per debater
Junior Events - $20 flat fee per student
Family Registration Fee: $10 per family

This is NOT a drop off event.

Payments
Electronic payment of all registration fees and meal tickets is mandatory for participation in The Pen and The Sword. Payment via Stripe (through ETCNWA Homeschool Group) is appreciated, and no check or cash will be accepted. Payments will not be accepted at the tournament.

Registration is not complete until your fees have been paid. Please understand that in the team event, Duo Interpretation, if both partners are not registered and paid in full, both registrations remain incomplete. A space cannot be held for that team. The partially registered teams will be moved to the wait list with their partner until both registrations and payments are complete.

Stripe Surcharge: Competitor is responsible for all charges incurred via Stripe, whether those be associated with initial registration, event add/drop, or withdrawal from competition. Please note that these fees are non-refundable, regardless of date of add/drop as we cannot recover these costs.

Refund Policy
Cancellations prior to registration close, will garner a full refund minus any Stripe fees. Registrants must contact The Pen and The Sword director before registration closes. If we are contacted after that time, we will not be able to offer refunds.

Dropping Events
There will be a $25 drop fee if an event is dropped after registration closes up through check-in. Drops create a domino effect of extra work for staff because they affect room allocation, judging needs, awards orders, and award ceremony.

Partnerships
All DUO events require a partner. Each should check with your partners to ensure that they are also registered. A team is not registered until the second person of the partnership has registered.

Waiting List
If you are wait-listed, we will contact you asap if you have been moved to an open spot.
We will make considerations for the wait-list after registration closes. Thank you for your patience!

Please contact us for extenuating circumstances which will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Dress Code
Please come in STOA dress code attire. For the duration of the tournament, students should remain in proper attire that is clean, neat, and modest. If at any time a student changes into casual wear, this standard applies.

Judges
It is our goal to have three judges in every speech round.
Judges don't need any prior experience! Our Judges Orientation will fully equip everyone in attendance to judge ANY event.
We have a lot of judge slots to fill. We sincerely appreciate your assistance.

Visitors
To keep everyone safe, all adults in the building need to check-in and wear a name badge..
If you don't receive a name badge at the Friday morning check-in, please stop by the Judge Greeter to get one.

ETCNWA, our parent homeschool organization, requires guests to check in and name badges. Please let family and friends know to enter though the Main Entrance on the North side of the building so they can pickup a badge.

Registrar Contact
Please direct any questions concerning registration or tournament details to the
Michelle Johnson at penandsword.ar@gmail.com

Anyone that has had any exposure to speech and debate tournaments knows

we cannot run a quality tournament without parent judges. 

We have MANY judge slots to fill!

Parent/Adult Judge Tournament Attendance

THIS IS NOT A DROP OFF EVENT

Every student must have a participating parent/adult judge present at the tournament. While we understand that it is sometimes more convenient or cost-effective for families to send their students to tournaments with other families, this is not a drop-off event and no student should be on campus without a parent/adult.

Parent judging requirements:

We will be requiring parents to sign up based on the events their student signs up for. Plan to judge the number of rounds specified when you register. Please be prepared to judge a round for each event on the schedule when possible.

Parent Check-In and Judging:

We will be having parent check in along with student check in so we can go over the slots you have selected for judging. Please show up for your chosen timeslot. If we happen to have enough community judges when you arrive, we'll send you on your way :-)

MEALS

Note: After April 16th, all meal orders will be closed and are non-refundable. 

Note: If you want to order meals and need dairy or gluten accommodations, please email us and we will let you know if we can help.

Parent and Student meals are under the Meal signup section and are for Lunch and Dinner both days.
The Student meals (parents can purchase these meals too)  are listed for Lunch and Dinner each day.
The Parent Pass is available for Judge's Chambers meals.

All parents will need to purchase meals if they would like to eat tournament food in the judges chambers, even though everyone is judging multiple rounds.
Only community judges and full-time staff may eat free of charge.
Food should not be taken out of the Gym or Judges Chambers area.
Per the Churches request, NO FOOD should be taken throughout the buildings. Drinks with lids are acceptable.

*Food in the Judges Chambers is for Community Judges and Parent Passes.

Any meal additions between April 15th and 22nd need to be emailed to penandsword.ar@gmail.com. Those meals must be paid in full immediately. No onsite meal payments will be accepted.

Bringing Your Own Food
NO crock pots or other cooking devices are allowed in the facility.
Families are welcome to bring coolers as needed. Please know that families will not have access to kitchen facilities (microwave, refrigerator, etc).

Concession Stand
There will be a concession with snacks, heavy snacks, drinks, and candy available all day Friday and until Clean-Up on Saturday.

JUNIOR'S TOURNAMENT

We are very excited to offer Junior Speech Events
A Final Schedule will be determined after registration closes.

JUNIOR SPEECH EVENT

There will be 3 rounds for the Juniors in the following categories
Juniors Events

Rules
Juniors Apologetic Rules
Juniors Platform Rules
Juniors Expos Rules
Juniors Interp Rules
Juniors Bible Story Rules
Juniors Impromptu Rules

CHECK IN - FRIDAY MORNING with Seniors at 8:00am or as a Junior at 11:00am

Mandatory Check-In: Check in will be April 25th from 11:00 -11:15 (or in the morning with Senior siblings.)

Student Name Badges
Juniors and Adult name badges will be distributed at Check-In. 

Topics for Junior Bible Story Impromptu:
2024-25 Bible Story Impromptu Topics

1. Healing of Naaman
2. Jonah
3. Noah's Ark
4. Christ is Born
5. Jesus turns water into wine
6. Jesus calms the storm
7. The burning bush
8. The Tomb is Empty
9. Jesus walks on water
10. Prodigal son
11. Daniel in the lions' den
12. Saul becomes Paul

Topics for Junior Apologetics:
2024-25 Apolgetics Topics

1. Who is Jesus
2. How does the Holy Spirit help us?
3. What is creation?
4. What is the fall?
5. Why did Jesus have to die?
6. Is Jesus the only Savior/way to heaven?
7. What is grace?
8. What is prayer?
9. What is sin?
10. What is the Bible?
11. Why must Jesus be truly human and truly God?
12. How many persons are there in God?

Juniors Judges
Calling All Senior Event Competitors!
Senior students, we need you to judge the Juniors Speech Events. You must have competed in at least one NITOC-modeled tournament as a Senior prior to The Pen and The Sword.
Sign-up sheets will be available throughout the tournament.
Juniors Judges need to arrive 15 minutes before each Juniors round in order to judge. At that time, they'll go through a short judges' orientation to prepare them.

SCRIPT SUBMISSION

All senior competitors with prepared speeches must complete the script submission process. 

There is no script submission for junior speech events.

The Pen & The Sword is requiring 100% ELECTRONIC script submission for this tournament.

Please use the following information to submit your scripts:

Script Submission Opens: March 25th, 2025
Scripts Due: April 15th, 2025 by 11:59 pm
Script Corrections Due: April 17th, 2025 by 11:59 pm

All script scripts must be submitted by the deadline above to avoid being dropped from that event. You will receive a confirmation email once your script has been received and approved.

Arkansas Oak Competitors: An approval for The Oak = an approval for The Pen & The Sword (if you are not making changes!) 

Subject Line: Event Name - Your Name
Attachment: A copy of your script
Attachment: A copy of your Oak Tournament approval confirmation email.
If you have made changes, please submit your script as normal.

How to Submit Scripts Electronically: 

1. Follow the rules for your speech event.
2. Follow the script submission guidelines and forms. 
3. Watch this short video.
4. Combine each speech into a single PDF file. (Recommended: Use a PDF phone scanner app)
5. Name the file correctly: Last Name, First Name - event.pdf
6. Submit Script by emailing an attachment to scripts.penandsword@gmail.com
7. Correct or Celebrate: If your script is returned for corrections, complete any requirements in a timely manner and resubmit. Otherwise, it is time to celebrate your approval!

Resources

Rapid Review & Approve (tutorial for competitors)

Publication Guidelines 2024-2025

Speech Citations Help Page 2024-2025

Stoa Plagiarism Policy 2024-2025

Interpretation Script Submission Guidelines 2024-2025

Platform Script Submission Guidelines 2024-2025

Slam Poetry Script Submission Guidelines 2024-2025

For questions regarding script submission, please contact: scripts.penandsword@gmail.com

More Details Soon!

JOIN SILOAM SIZZLER

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN LINCOLN DOUGLAS!

Siloam Springs Rising Eagles will offer a one-day LD Debate tournament the day before The Pen & The Sword.

Siloam Springs, AR, April 24, 2025
The Siloam Sizzler is a Stoa NITOC-modeled tournament offering Lincoln Douglas Debate.

Registration Opens: - March 27, 2025
Registration Closes: - March 31, 2025

Tournament Location
Siloam Springs Bible Church
927 S. Oak Hill
Siloam Springs, AR 72761

The Siloam Sizzler is just a 30-40 minute drive from Bentonville. Be sure to check out their information on the Stoa calendar at the Siloam Sizzler tournament link.

Tournament Location
First Landmark Baptist Church
206 SE 28th St
Bentonville, AR 72712

Map to First Landmark Baptist Church

Parking
Student: Parents and students should park in the large parking lot behind the Gym and Main buildings on the SouthWest side of the property. Overflow can be located on the South side of the Gym.
Judges: Please park in front of the Sanctuary in the North Parking Lot. Overflow will be located on the East side of the Gym.

Buliding Map
Our facility has two buildings. The gym building and the Main Building. Please familiarize yourself with the facility to know where to park and where to enter.

Here is a printable map of the parking lot and building.