You will be voting for one candidate.
Alex Arroyave
I am married to Susan and am better known as Benjamin’s dad in the latter years and Nathaniel’s dad in my early Stoa journey. I was born and raised in Guatemala and moved to the U.S. at the age of 15. I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell College, majoring in Spanish, and was a credentialed teacher in Iowa at the age of 20. After teaching for three and a half years, I left the profession and was hired as a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. I earned a Master of Science Degree in Forensic Science while working at the DEA. After completing training at the FBI Academy, I was assigned to the Calexico, California office in October of 1991. In 1999, Susan and I started a ministry, publishing a monthly Christian newspaper in our area until 2016. In 2004, I was hired as a Special Agent with the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, and retired from federal service in May 2023. In addition to being a Criminal Investigator, I earned my credential as a Certified Fraud Examiner in 2018. Since retirement, I have continued to serve as the lead for the Safety Ministry at my church, where I oversee teams at three different campuses and manage access control and surveillance cameras. I enjoy singing and sing in the bass section of the Imperial Valley Master Chorale. I currently provide consulting services in Safety Management and Systems Integration.
Susan and I married in 1995 and in 2000 welcomed Nathaniel and in 2004 Benjamin. I was introduced to Stoa in December of 2012 as “something a homeschooling relative did” and Nathaniel wanted to try out. Several tournaments later, we were at our first NITOC in San Diego (the year of the fires) and learned about the flexibility and community that the Stoa family exhibits. Many hundreds of thousands of miles later, Nathaniel graduated, having attended every NITOC since 2013 and Benjamin followed in his brother’s footsteps, culminating in Benjamin’s senior NITOC, where he won LD and Parli.
I started the Stoa journey as most dads do, showing up to judge and being blown away and impressed by the quality of the people I met from day one. Not too long after that, I was asked to help with script submission, and eventually I led script submission for multiple tournaments. I started serving on the Safety Team at NITOC the first year Stoa was at Union University and was asked to lead the Safety Team at every NITOC after that. With the help of a phenomenal group of Stoa dads and moms, the NITOC Safety Team has kept the community safe. I have worked in the Tab room at multiple tournaments and was Tab director at one tournament in the 2023-2024 season. Susan and I were one of the founding families of Ex Nihilo and we served in leadership at Paradigm Speech and Debate. I have had the privilege of helping coach some of the best students in the league. I have tried to serve at tournaments and camps in any role necessary to help students achieve their highest, giving all glory to God.
I have grown to love the members of the Stoa family greatly and saw the first tournament of every season as a family reunion. It has been such a privilege to watch generations of Stoa competitors as they go beyond their competition years into adulthood. The friendships Susan and I have made with other Stoa families have formed life-long bonds and I have come to treasure the Stoa community.
One of my desires has been to encourage more dads to participate in the Stoa family as I have grown to love and care for the Stoa family deeply. It is humbling to be nominated to serve as a member of the Stoa board and I would consider it an honor to be able to continue to serve Stoa as a board member.
Peter Fear
Peter was first introduced to home school debate when, as a legal assistant at HSLDA in Virginia, he was asked to be a community judge at the first national home school debate tournament. Amazed by the caliber of these debaters, even in the infancy of home school debate competition, he wished that this had been available to him when he was home schooled in the early 80’s and 90’s.
After moving to California to practice law, Peter occasionally judged local home school debate tournaments, and on one such occasion took his oldest daughter, then ten years old, to watch. Walking out of a debate round, she grabbed his arm and whispered, “Dad, I want to do THIS!” Thus began the Fear family immersion into the world of home school forensics! All seven of his children have been involved in Stoa. Two have graduated, three are currently competing, and two can’t wait to move from juniors to varsity competition.
Peter and his wife, Debra, help to lead a local Stoa affiliate club in central California, known as Fortitude. Peter focuses his coaching time on LD and Apologetics, as well as leading a weekly Apologetics Bible study. The focus of Fortitude is discipleship, using the means of speech and debate. (You can read more here). He and Debra also lead the Central Valley Challenge tournament in Fresno, California.
As a lawyer and a partner in a local bankruptcy law firm, Peter enjoys helping businesses, farmers, individuals, and others involved in distressed financial situations to find solutions. He also serves as professor at Oak Brook College of Law, currently teaching Bankruptcy and Appellate Advocacy, and is involved in discipling at the weekly men’s Bible study at his local church.
Wayne Johnson
I have been so very blessed by the privilege of journeying through life with you for the last 13 years. Candace and I have been married for 35 years and we have seven children ranging in age from 16 to 27. All have been homeschooled and all have participated extensively in Stoa speech and debate. I describe below various facets of my Stoa experience but perhaps the most important aspect to know about me is that the Lord has used Stoa to sanctify and bless me at least as much (if not more so) than my kids. I am so very thankful the Lord has used Stoa as an integral part of the sanctification process in my life. Some the best and hardest character lessons I have learned in life have been in homeschool speech and debate. I am profoundly thankful for this ministry.
My family was one of about a half dozen families that started our Stoa club, EPIC2, in 2011 in Highland, California. I have attended nearly all the weekly club meetings over the last thirteen years and served as the club leader or co-leader for about a dozen of those years. I have taught apologetics and debate throughout that same time period. I also teach apologetics at another local Stoa club about once a month.
I have attended about 120 Stoa tournaments including the last ten NITOCs (2013-2023) and served in nearly every possible position including ballot push, registrar, facilities, driving golf carts, adjudication and, most often, tab. I have worked in tab at over 100 tournaments and have served as a tab director for 33 tournaments including twice as the NITOC tab director (2021 and 2024). I have also served as a tournament director a half dozen times for the Inland Club Challenge.
In 2019, the Stoa Board formed its Tabulation Committee and I served as its leader for the first two years. I have continued to serve on this committee and its successor (Tools and Tabulation Committee) for a total of five years. Last summer, I also commenced serving on the Stoa Debate Committee.
I have attended the Stoa Academy at various times and taught classes. I also serve in the Stoa national prayer ministry with a focus on praying with other Stoa fathers.
It would be one of the greatest honors of my life to serve as a Stoa board member. May the Lord continue to bless you all.