Jeff Eschen

I am the husband of my wonderful wife Jessica and the father of eight children (age 18 down to 1). I have a B.S. in Business Administration from Biola University. I worked as a CPA for 14 years (mostly in Salem, OR) before going to work with my brother managing commercial real estate. We also own a homeschool bookstore where I teach classes to homeschoolers (Civics, Economics, Logic, and Apologetics). We currently live in the Carson Valley in Northern Nevada. I have been the team policy coach for our local club in Reno (Beacon) for the last three years.

When we first moved from Oregon, my oldest child was 10 years old. It was then that I was introduced to Stoa as a community judge. After judging at the Heart of the Valley tournament, I decided that all my children would need to compete in Stoa Team Policy Debate in order to graduate from high school. Three and a half years later we had our first child in Stoa. I have been a Stoa parent for 5 years now, and my fourth child just started Stoa this year. Our involvement in tournaments has increased each year, and we enjoy getting out to tournaments in different regions and meeting new people. It has been a blessing to see the growth in the kids over the years that we have been involved, and that is not just in my children but also in the ones that I have gotten the privilege of judging and coaching since we joined the Stoa community.

Lynda Sloneker

I am originally from Texas, but I have been something of a nomad my whole life. I have had the blessing of living abroad for over 10 years in Greece, Spain, China and most recently in Puerto Rico. Because of extensive exposure to other cultures, I have learned to truly value the diversity of all kinds. I fully embrace the belief we are all image-bearers of God, created for a purpose and designed to walk and work in fellowship with one another. I enjoy interacting with people from different backgrounds and perspectives and finding unity in our shared purpose. This is one of the things that I value most about Stoa. I love that we can come together as Christian homeschoolers from all different corners of our country and despite our differences in homeschool approaches, parenting styles, political perspectives, and Christian traditions, we work together to train our children to discover and use their voices to change the world for Christ.

My educational background is in English and Spanish. I have a B.A. in English Language and Literature from Texas Tech University, and an M.A in Comparative Literature (emphasis Latin American Literature) from Texas Tech also. I have 8+ years of teaching experience in both English and Spanish at the university level and have been teaching in the homeschool community for almost 15 years. In addition, I worked for several years in Expatriate Administration and Training & Development for one of the largest corporations in the US. I have also served in numerous volunteer and ministry roles in youth organizations and in our local church.

Our family has been part of Stoa for 6 years. When we returned from China in 2014, I was blessed to cross paths with a group of parents who had been inspired by the 2013 NITOC (held at our local John Brown University) to become part of Stoa. Together we founded a local club that has grown and flourished over the years. I have served in a leadership role from the beginning and have been our Tournament Director for 5 years. I have also served as Tab Director, worked in Ballot Push, Ballot Return and Judge Orientation at many different tournaments. I am fully familiar with the challenges and blessings of running both a Stoa club and a tournament. From July of 2018 to the present, I have also had the great pleasure of serving on Stoa’s Training &Development committee, where I have helped to develop materials and interacted with many families who are new to our organization. I can honestly say that I have grown and learned just as much or more than my children have on this journey of homeschool Speech and Debate.

My husband Del and I have been married for 23 years. Together we have 6 children, one dog and 5 cats. We live in beautiful Northwest Arkansas and enjoy getting into the outdoors as much as possible. We love camping, hiking, cycling and hanging out at the lake. I also enjoy reading, cooking and traveling anywhere, anytime. Besides God and my family, what I value most in life are the meaningful friendships I get to share with other like-minded Christians as we all seek, together, to fulfill the purpose to which we are all called.

Gerald Stunkel

Gerald Stunkel, husband, homeschool dad, and business owner. Gerald and his wife Alicia have been married for 25 years and have one son, Raymond. They homeschooled their son for ten years, third through twelfth grade. Gerald has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Pre-Law from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke where he competed in Model U.N. and Model League of Arab States debate all four years. “Debate has impacted my life more than any class I took in college.” He has over 30 years of experience in Transportation and Business Management. The couple owns Covered Wagon Trucking in Jackson, GA. Gerald also serves as Vice-Chairman for the Board of Commissioners in Jasper County Georgia.

His son, Raymond inherited both of his parent’s love of debate and competed in STOA throughout high school. Through their son competing, both Gerald and Alicia became involved in helping to coordinate and run speech & debate tournaments in the Atlanta area for the last eight years. Five years ago, Alicia started Interritus Debate Club in middle Georgia. Gerald is involved in all aspects of running Interrirtus. Gerald loves the homeschool community and has a passion for teaching and equipping the next generation of leaders.