Camp Flyers 2025
Plano West
Dallas, TX
Spring Woods
Houston, TX
Virtual Camp
*Same date as Plano West
NSDA Presence
Read all the information fully including attachments & see our coaching staff
Welcome to Always Writing 4 U Summer Camp Information Page 2025!!! If you have made your way to this page you are interested in attending camp with us this summer. Below is all of the information that you will need for camp.
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First, read the Camp Flyer & Information document that outlines the camp expectations, dates, events offered, and all things camp.
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Second, the Camp Paperwork which you will need to print and share with your parents because it needs to be filled out and returned to kristy@alwayswriting4u.com
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***If you are attending camp in person you have to have your medical form notarized before you can turn it in. Most schools have a notary in the front office or you can visit your bank.
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If you are a coach and want to use a Purchase Order to pay for camp simply e-mail me at the above e-mail and we will get that paperwork going and invoice sent to school. ***Final payment is due BEFORE the beginning of camp. No exceptions.
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Preferred payment is by check. Zelle and Venmo are accepted as well. Contact me via e-mail for more on payment information. kristy@alwayswriting4u.com
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You are NOT guaranteed a spot in the camp until you have A. returned the paperwork and B. purchased the camp
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You will receive a confirmation once your slot is set.
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*Space is limited and dates will be removed as the weeks reach maximum capacity.
Host: Plano West Senior High School
Plano, TX
Date: July 14- 18
Who: 9-12 grade students ONLY
There will be students in person as well as online.
*This camp will have a hybrid (online) option for students not in the DFW area.
Plano West High School In Person
Paperwork
(hybrid)
July 14-18
Host: Spring Woods High School
Houston, TX
Date: July 7-11
Who: 9-12 grade students ONLY
This camp is fully in person
Spring Woods High School In Person
Paperwork
July 7-11
***Online Paperwork
July 14- 18***
ALWAYS WRITING 4 U VIRTUAL CAMP
Please make sure that you print, fill out and return paperwork with your final payment. The breakdown of fees is on the paperwork that you will need to fill out and return. ***Final payments are due BEFORE the beginning of camp. You will not be allowed to attend if payment has not been received prior to Monday's start.
Virtual camp paperwork ONLY
Plano West Senior High School
July 14-18, 2025
Payment Information
Purchase Orders available upon request.
***All payments for all camps are to be mailed to:
Kristy Thomas
9808 Overhill Rd.
Kansas City, MO 64134
Always Writing 4 U pieces that have made it to the National Speech and Debate Association tournament and placings.
Meet our coaching team
Always Writing 4 U- Owner
Camp Administrator
DR. KRISTY THOMAS is the owner and lead writer at Always Writing 4 U. She was a high school, college competitor and began coaching in 1996. Her college degrees include a BS in Secondary Theatre and Speech Education, MFA in Acting and Direction, MBA Educational Leadership, Certification in Diversity & Inclusion. She has had over twenty- five years of coaching experience in Missouri, Kansas and Texas. In her coaching career she has had state qualifiers and finalists across the board in speech, state champions in: DI and Duo (2) in Texas. As a writer she has had numerous state champions, national qualifiers, national finalists, 3 national champions in Prose, National finalists in DI and Duo and DI champion with "Animal." During camp she believes in building students up with useful lectures, workable notes, educating students on who they can take this one week of camp back and use it for the entire year and the importance of seeing the relevance of speech as an activity to take with them for the rest of their lives. Our top notch coaching staff of certified educators who are experienced, knowledgeable active creators of safe spaces for students to grow at their own pace is a large part of why our speech camp excels.
Summer Camp Director of On Site Operations
ROBERT SHEPARD, “Shep” the name says it all. After 25 plus years of teaching and coaching, Shep continues to influence the coaches and students involved with speech and debate. Shep began his coaching career in Kansas City, MO before moving to TX. Along the way, Shep has amassed numerous awards and accolades. He has coached state champions and humorous, dramatic, duo, duet, oratory, had finalists on the national level and oratory, duo, DI, HI and coached the NSDA poetry national champion. Under his tutelage, the Creekview speech team were crowned state champions at the TFA state tournament with entries only in the interp division. He will be retiring from education as the coach at Plano Senior High School in TX. Shep served a variety of offices for TFA including president, vice president, and region rep. The trophies, the awards, the achievements are amazing feats for this wonderful man, but they do not tell the whole story. Shep is truly a teacher first, coach second. All who have the opportunity of working with Shep quickly realized that he wants to teach the whole process, rather than just coach a piece. As Shep has said numerous times, “you have to do the table work first so that you can understand what it is you are really doing or saying.” Through his teaching methods, students soon realize that the skills Shep is instilling in them transcends far beyond performing a script.
POI & Speech Coordinator
Host: Cypress Creek HS Camp (Houston, TX July 7-11)
Full Time Camp Coach
ANDREW GEORGE BARRETT is the current Head of Forensics at Cypress Creek High School in Houston, TX. In his 7 years at Dobie, Andrew has coached students who have finaled at prestigious debate tourneys such as Grapevine, UT, Holy Cross, George Mason, Emory, Harvard, TFA and UIL in all genres of competition garnering 6 state champions in 7 years since taking over the program. At the national level including NIETOC, TOC-Kentucky, NCFL and NSDA Andrew has coached multiple competitors to quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds in both interpretation and public address events, including 8 national finalists in DI, Duo, OI and Oratory as well the 2019 TOC-Kentucky Champion in Dramatic Interpretation and 2020 TFA State Champion in Program of Oral Interpretation. Andrew was also a previous coach at Bellaire and Spring Woods where he worked with dozens of state champions and NSDA qualifiers and outround participants. In addition to coaching, 100% of Mr, Barrett’s students have received scholarships to some of the best college institutions in the country including Wiley, TSU, Yale, Howard, the University of Texas, University of Houston and Prairie View to name a few. Andrew is excited to be coaching with Kristy Thomas for the third time in four years and is looking forward to helping students find their voice while performing with passion.
Full Time Camp Camp Coach
AMBERLEY TANNER has a M.A. in Performance from Texas Women’s University and a B.A. in Communications from the University of Texas at Arlington. Mrs. Tanner has been heavily active in UIL OAP, UIL Academics, TFA, NIETOC, and NSDA competitions since 1995. Currently, Mrs. Tanner is the Director of Forensics at Steele Early College High School where she coaches students on the local, regional, state and national level. She is also the UIL Coordinator. Additionally, she serves as an adjunct professor of Drama for Tarrant County College. As an Acting/Vocal instructor, Mrs. Tanner has coached for the University of Texas at Arlington and Rice University in Houston. She is a nationally recognized performer in Prose, Poetry, Dramatic Interpretation, After-dinner Speaking and Duo interpretation. Mrs. Tanner is also a writer, and her work has been performed nationwide. For the past fifteen years, she has made programs built for interpretation and oratory the highlight of her summer. She is looking forward to another opportunity to be a part of the camp experience that helps bring great literature and world events to life through the voices of young high school students. It is about the art we create with our minds, hearts, and most importantly, our words put into action.
Full Time Camp Coach
Host: Plano West HS Camp
(Plano, TX July 14-18)
REGGIE CHAPMAN is presently the Head Coach at Plano West Senior High School, an Educator and Performer from Hattiesburg, MS where he served as an Assistant/Field Coach at Hattiesburg HS for 7 years. As a competitor Reggie claimed 2 Collegiate National Championships; one in Prose Interpretation performing Seventh Birthday written by Kristy Thomas and the other in Duo Interpretation. As a coach, he has been blessed to work with some of the most talented students in the country, seeing some of his students go as far winning the National Championship. He credits the students’ perseverance, focus and talents for the success that they’ve accomplished. When he is not coaching speech and debate, Reggie can be found performing on stages around his city as he was recently appointed the Headline Performer for all major events. His love of performance and passion for the Arts continuously pushes him to discover new and inventive ways to push students towards finding their voices in this activity!
Virtual Coach
NATHAN COLE is a tenured professor of Theatre Arts at Ventura College in Ventura, California. As an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Arlington, Nathan competed in individual events for four years and was a DSRTKA national champion in both Duo and Program Oral Interpretation. For AFT, he was a semi-finalist in Program Oral Interpretation and Poetry. After graduation and during graduate school, Nathan coached interpretation events for both the University of Texas at Arlington and Rice University. Relocating from Dallas, Texas, Nathan was the lead faculty and faculty coordinator in the Theatre Department at Mountain View College for almost nine years, and chair and co-chair of the Drama Discipline Committee for Dallas County Community College District. Nathan has directed numerous plays, adjudicated UIL One Act plays as well as served as a workshop presenter. Nathan is excited to share his knowledge of speech and performance at camp.