TIP OF TEXAS

The first thing parents should do is confirm whether your child will be able to attend our Roundup and Induction Ceremony, which will take place on March 28 from 3-6 PM at Texas Southmost College and on March 29 from 5-6 PM at LOCATION, respectively. After that weekend, students will be assigned to one of two teams. Each team will compete at a different program. The programs are effectively identical, with the only material difference being where and when they take place. Regardless of what team they are placed on, all students will attend the same meetings on the same days. As the dates of each program draw near, our region will have a parent meeting at which our leadership will explain the logistics — what time/from where the bus will depart, what students should pack, etc. Then, when the time comes, students will board the bus and travel to their program. If you have any questions or concerns about the program, our team is happy to talk through them with you. Please email tipoftexas@nhimail.com (mailto:tipoftexas@nhimail.com)and a member of our team will reach out.

The Annual Roundup is the first event of the 2026 season. It will take place from on March 28, from 3-6PM at LOCATION. At this event, students will be given an overview of the experience that awaits them, and will participate in activities that will give them a taste of what is to come. All students who applied to participate in the Great Debate program with NHI at Tip of Texas are invited to attend. Please note that unlike previous years, our first event is not our Induction Ceremony. The Roundup is intended for students only.

This year, our region received nearly 100 applications. Unfortunately, NHI's policies prohibit us from taking that many students to any one tournament. However, to accommodate all students, we are dividing our applicants into two teams: our Ambassador team and our Sherman team. Our Ambassador team will compete at the Texas Ambassador Great Debate on June 27-30 at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, TX, and our Sherman team will compete at the Texas Great Debate at Austin College in Sherman, TX, on June 6-9. Our administrators have noted the preference that students indicated on their applications, but because there is limited space at both programs, we cannot guarantee that students will be placed at their first-choice program. And although some students mistakenly believe that one program is better than the other, that is not the case. The programs are effectively identical, with the only material difference being where and when they take place.

The programs are effectively identical. The only material difference is where and when they take place. Both are four days long. Both have the same tournament format (round-robin rounds on day two and an elimination bracket on day three). Both involve students from across the state of Texas. And — most importantly — both programs offer the opportunity to partake in a transformative, once-in-a-lifetime leadership experience.

As long as the number of students who selected a program as their first choice does not exceed the number of spots available for that program, every student will be placed at their first-choice program. However, it is impossible for us to know how many students will mark each preference any given year. For this reason, we cannot guarantee that every student will be placed at their first-choice program. In other words, it is possible that the number of students who indicated a preference for a particular program will outnumber the available spots at that program. In that scenario, it would be unavoidable that some students would have to be placed at their second-choice program. Either way, it is important to keep in mind that the two programs are effectively identical, and the only significant difference is where and when they take place.

If that is the case, families have two options. 1. Families can join the waitlist of the other program. If a student drops, your child may be selected to take their spot. 2. Families can withdraw from our program altogether. To pursue either of these options, please fill out this Google form.(https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScyd6uRGWTWqRZzUFs3JvFSc3AUoUIbzO8nQcRGzNjL3m8Hig/viewform)