Frequently Asked Questions

No prior experience is required to join our program.  We believe all children have talent and potential for great communication.  Our application process is not about gauging your child's "talent," but rather, to get a sense of your child's availability to prioritize speech and debate via active participation in our classes and tournament opportunities.  

We offer classes for kids as young as 2nd grade.  However, they must be able to read and write and be developmentally mature enough to handle a one-hour weekly class.  The oldest age group we accept is 12th graders.  Our classes are grouped as follows:  Little Novas, a weekly one-hour class for 2nd and 3rd graders; Elementary School class--a 2-hour weekly class for 4th and 5th graders, and our Middle School/High School classes--a 2-hour weekly class for 7th-12th graders. Occasionally, we also offer communication classes and training for adults.

Our program consists of 3 components:  a weekly class that meets 16 times per semester, opportunities to compete at speech and debate tournaments (students must do at least one per semester but are encouraged to sign up for many more) and preparation labs to technically train a student for a tournament and the event for which they signed up.

What makes us so special?  Here, your child is our #1 priority.  We care and think about all aspects of the learning experience for your child and in fact, everything we do and create is based on enriching the experience for your child. Most people feel the magic of Nova 42 from the first moment they step into our 2-story, 6000+ square foot academy.  It is designed to be like a fun clubhouse for our students, making them feel comfortable and happy to learn. Our curriculum is designed by us and ensures that students are learning incredible communication skills every single class and lab. We also are well-known for how much we take care of our students at tournaments, whether providing a tent, power chargers, food or snacks or walking with them to their first round to support them and calm their nerves.  When we say that your child is the most important priority at Nova 42, we mean it.

For over 12 years, Nova 42 has focused on four key pillars of learning:  1) critical thinking, which forms the foundation for logic-building, persuasion and debate; 2) presentation skills, which focuses on learning how the body is an instrument of communication and how to develop powerful public speaking skills; 3) interpersonal communication, which focuses on the one-on-one or small group communication skills (such as interviews); and 4) leadership, which is a personalized approach to discovering a student's strengths and weaknesses in communication and helping them build their unique voice and self-confidence.

We build upon these four pillars by creating learning objectives that underscore our curriculum and then, on top of that, we create unique, interesting lessons and modules that teach students skills in all four areas.

Of course, essential to our program is the staff--four of the smartest, most creative and caring teachers and coaches:  Mike Kyle, Jung Park, Ted Kim and Danny Glasgow.  Their combined technical knowledge of speech and debate, their innovative thinking and commitment to your child's growth has resulted in some of the best training out there. 

yes, absolutely.  In fact, Jung often explains that introverted or shy people usually develop into the best leaders and bosses.  This is because their "input" capacity and ability are high--they are observant, listen well and very attuned to people and environments around them.  Jung then explains that when such students develop their "output," or speaking abilities, they are a strong combination of great listener and great speaker.  Every child is unique and Nova 42 encourages students to be proud of who they are and build their unique speaking style and approach.

The first step is contact us by email so we can send you information about our spring 2025 program and how to apply  Feel free to use our Contact form or email us directly at nova42coordinator@gmail.com  or text us at (626) 272-8266.  When writing to us, please include your name, your child's name, their grade level and school, your email address and your phone number. 

No.  We accept applications before the semester and end the application process by the mid-point of the semester.  However, our summer program consists of camps and a shorter session of classes and is a great way to experience the magic of Nova 42.

No. Our classes are designed to be developmentally appropriate for the age groups listed. 

Yes, as of the 2024-2025 season, all accepted students must participate in at least one speech and debate tournament per semester.  Of course, we highly encourage students to participate in many more.

Throughout the season (which tracks a schoolyear in length), different college teams, high school teams or leagues offer tournaments for students to compete in.  A tournament is typically held on a Saturday (sometimes a Friday afterschool for middle school), and for high school, some larger tournaments are held on both Saturday-Sunday.  A few of the largest regional tournaments for high school competitors can last 3 days and the NSDA national championship and other national tournaments lasts anywhere from 3 days to 5 days.  Once a student registers for a tournament and picks an event or events to compete in, Nova 42 starts training them in that event or those events so that they feel confident and ready to compete on the day of the tournament.  At the tournament, they will do their event in preliminary rounds (usually 3 rounds) and if their ranks are high enough from those rounds, they advance to finals, or semi-finals, or quarter finals or octofinals (the number of eliination rounds depends on the size of the event or the tournament schedule for elimination rounds). 

The dress code for tournaments is business attire.  As of the 2024-2025 season, most tournaments are still online tournaments but there are usually around 3-4 inperson tournaments as well.  Students who are in our program get a full and detailed tournament information email before every tournament in which their child is registered.

It depends.  We request that students not apply for our program if they are active in another time-consuming and competitive event, such as competitive sports.  The practices and tournaments for such other activity often conflict with our class times and tournament days.  Even if our preparation lab times don't conflict, we have found students are tired or distracted from their other activities by the time they participate in our evening labs.  Due to this, we strongly recommend you wait to apply to our program if your child is busy with many other activities or even one very time-consuming other activity.