The ICC Blog

Timothy Hardy
We decided to make some quick changes to the program for the Billings, Montana performance, resulting in some new challenges. Thinking back on it now, a simple truth is so often ignored, that it is important for each of us to try difficult things that stretch and grow us. Even though we weren’t [...]

Kelsea Mort
It has truly been a blessing to learn along with the Beginning Public Speakers here in Billings, Montana. During one of our songs, “Singing in the Rain”, one particular boy brought a bit of sunshine to my day. His smile was so big that he could hardly get the words to the song out [...]

Josh Craddock
Here in Billings, Montana, the weather is cold and snowy. But the
students warmed right up to the idea of Public Forum debate! In fact,
everyone in this week’s public forum session improved dramatically
each time they got up to speak. At the end of the debate round, all of
the speakers had gained confidence in their own [...]

Phillip Rosenberger
As of Wednesday, driving 14 hours to Idaho with four other interns to run a conference, we expected 8 Beginning Public Speaking students. When Friday rolled around, the numbers had slowly trickled in, topping off at 19. The plan was for me to run a single small group all day but with almost twenty [...]

Timothy Hardy
The program on October 2 went really well, with the crescendo of the northern rain coming at the perfect moments during the performance. What the audience didn’t know was that the team was working off 5-8 hours of sleep out of the last 48. Nine of us had arrived at 3 a.m. that [...]

Dynamite in Alabama
Janie Little
Dynamic: positive in attitude and full of energy and new ideas.
The Montgomery conference was dynamic. Through the entirety of the conference, the students were innovative, willing, and enthusiastic.  It was fun to see some familiar faces and catch up with some friends I made at the speech and debate camps.

My favorite class [...]

Janie Little
The Apprentices at the Montgomery conference were awesome. Whenever something needed to be done, they were right there, ready to serve with a smile on their faces. For the first two days, Kali was the only one there, but she still got everything accomplished that needed to be done. Seth came for the second [...]

Timothy Hardy
I was really happy with the conversation I was able to have with my host family after the team performed the Lead the Escape Evening Program at the last conference in Montgomery, AL. The mom and dad were very impressed by the way the team portrayed the theme of Lead The Escape. [...]

Josh Craddock
The students at the Montgomery conference had a natural aptitude toward Public Forum. They were able to take the resolution, brainstorm arguments quickly, and debate in a manner that made it seem as if they had been speaking for quite some time. This was clearly an intelligent group that was able to easily apply [...]

Phillip Rosenberger
Beginning Public Speaking in Alabama was quite the adventure. We had almost 50 students under the age of 12 filled to the brim with energy. The day ran smoothly, the students learned quickly, and the excitement level only elevated as time passed.
After the BPS closing program, the parents were all invited to the [...]