Camp Staff
At the Rocky Mountain Stoa Debate Camp, our instructors are mentors who care deeply about the students they serve. Drawing from experience in communication, debate, education, and ministry, they are committed to helping students grow in both skill and character.
Through thoughtful discussion and careful reasoning, students learn to evaluate ideas, communicate clearly, and engage others with respect. Grounded in a biblical worldview, our teaching encourages students to seek truth, uphold integrity, and reflect Christ in both their words and actions.
Maggie Carabelos
Maggie was a founding member in establishing homeschool speech and debate in Colorado and has been at its core ever since. She has been coaching Homeschool Forensics and the SALT club since 1999.
Maggie served on the Directors Team for NITOC 2012 and 2013, and she was working hard as the 2020 Tournament Director before the unprecedented cancellation of NITOC due to COVID-19. Maggie and Sharon Nagatani were honored to direct NITOC 2021 in-person at Union University. Maggie served on the Stoa Debate Committee for 7 years, 4 years on the Stoa Board of Directors, and 2 years as the President of the Stoa Board of Directors.
She and her husband Leonard have been happily married for 37 years and have two adult sons who were both homeschooled and are alumni debaters. Maggie’s favorite title now is Grandma!
Margaret Benton
Margaret serves as the head coach for WD40. She holds a Master's degree in Literary and Cultural Theory from Carnegie Mellon University. Margaret has been homeschooling her children for 12 years including two Stoa alumni and one current Stoa student. In 2026, she was elected to the national Stoa board. She and her husband Corey enjoy volunteering at Stoa tournaments and supporting Stoa students and parents.
Amber Conover
After starting the homeschooling journey 19 years ago, Amber Conover was excited to delve into the STOA community with speech and debate. She enjoys all facets of involvement in STOA, including judging, coaching, script submission, and tournaments. Out of the many activities that her family has participated in, the value of STOA Speech and Debate has been unparalleled. She believes that Apologetics is by far the most important and should reflect our daily lives as we live out the Gospel. STOA is a great avenue to do so. Amber enjoys coaching sWord Speech and Debate Club in Fremont County. She is an entrepreneur and enjoys bookkeeping and financial analytics for small to mid-size businesses and non-profits. If Amber has a few spare moments, she loves reading, painting, hiking, gardening, and of course, learning some new challenge.
Corey Benton
Corey and his family have participated in Stoa for seven years. He is the proud parent of two alumni and one current competitor. Corey volunteers in Tabulation, Judge Orientation, and has been on NITOC staff since 2022. He is currently helping WD40 wherever he can, but concentrates on Lincoln-Douglas and Parliamentary debate.
Outside of Stoa, Corey is a 23 year veteran of the United States Air Force and currently works as a contract simulator instructor with FlightSafety International on the KC-46 tanker aircraft.
Sarah Carabelos
Sarah competed extensively in Team Policy and Parliamentary Debate during her homeschool years and ranked among the nation’s top competitors. She earned numerous titles including many First Place Speaker awards. Sarah served as her club’s Team Policy Captain and helped develop training curriculum for new students that is still in use today. She also excelled in a wide range of speech events, including Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu, Persuasive Speaking, Original Oratory, and Expository Speaking.
Following graduation, Sarah continued investing in the next generation of speakers and debaters by coaching at her local club, mentoring international students, and teaching at debate camps across the country. Her passion for teaching and communication extended beyond competition when she partnered in the development and publication of a persuasive speaking course for Tuttle Twins Academy.
Sarah has been married for 10 years and lives in Dallas, Texas, where she homeschools her oldest two children. She continues to pursue her passion for mentorship and communication by leading her own Junior Speech and Debate club, serving and encouraging students within her local community.
Ginger Schiffmayer
Ginger’s Stoa career included a stint as WD40’s team captain, a year as the highest ranked competitor in Colorado, and several NITOC finalist placements. She went on to study history at Grove City College, where she captained the Grove City Debate team and won Grand Champion (with her partner, Josh Xu) in NPDA, the largest collegiate parliamentary debate organization in the United States. Ginger graduated Summa Cum Laude from Grove City after winning the Barry scholarship. She will attend Oxford in the fall, pursing her Masters in Late Antique and Byzantine studies.
Anderson Benton
Anderson is a Stoa alumnus having competed for six years and in every event. He competed at NITOC in all forms of debate as well as several speech events. Anderson is currently enrolled as a sophomore at Colorado University in Boulder, where he is an active member of the Army ROTC battalion. Upon graduation Anderson is looking forward to earning a philosophy degree and being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army.
Jonah Benton
Jonah is a Stoa alumnus who competed in speech and debate for four years as part of WD40. Jonah served as a captain of WD40 and was a finalist in several Stoa events including being the runner-up in NITOC Parliamentary Debate Finals in 2022 with his partner Justin Dasher. Jonah will be a senior at Concordia Nebraska this fall where he is an active member of the speech and debate teams. He and his partner, fellow RMS alumnus Aidan McKinnon, earned the title of Grand Champions at the National Parliamentary Debate Association competition this spring.
Julie Schiffmayer
Julie started Stoa in 2017 and has been excited about it ever since. She was a founding member of WD40 and now has 3 Stoa alums with 2 more kids still involved. She has served as Lincoln Douglas parent mentor, and currently as a campus coach and Team Policy coach for WD40. She is committed to the good and beautiful things that come from homeschool speech and debate and helping kids develop their skills.
Joshua Spivey
Joshua is a Stoa alumnus working as a real estate professional with a top percentile team in Berkshire Hathaway - representing clients with an emphasis on deep research skills and excellent communication. Abilities developed in Stoa.
When in Stoa, Joshua never went to NITOC without competing in the NITOC Team Policy finals. First as a second year debater and sophomore, and then the following year, Joshua became NITOC Team Policy Champion alongside his partner Brad Tomasovic with a perfect outround winning record.
Now a debate coach for three years, Joshua is the co-founder of Nile Debate which helped over 300 students last year alone. Nile Debate exists to help students who aim higher to perform better.
Bethannie Wendt
Bethannie spent six years in speech and debate, competing in team policy debate and qualifying for NITOC twice. She continued at the collegiate level, where she competed at Christian College Nationals. Along the way, Bethannie discovered how much she enjoys helping others grow, coaching last year’s RMS Camp novice track and continuing to support students through her work with the SALT team.
Bethannie has a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from the University of New Mexico and works as a Behavioral Therapist for children with autism.
Riley Truitt
Riley Truitt is a Stoa alumnus who competed for seven years, from 2011 to 2019. During his time with Stoa, he competed at a national level in all speech styles, as well as Team Policy and Parliamentary debate. Riley loves to teach, having served as a club captain for SALT and an assistant coach for WD40. He also competed in collegiate Parliamentary debate—winning a tournament alongside his older brother—before shifting his focus to other endeavors. Riley now works as an engineer and lives in Palmer Lake, CO, with his wife, Grace, and their dog, Hoagie.
Larry Sparks
Bio coming soon...