Patriot Academy, Hands On Civics Training At A Capitol Near You: Have you noticed the vacuum of leadership in America? We’re looking around for leaders of principle to step up and too often no one is there. Patriot Academy was created to meet that need. Patriot Academy graduates now serve in state capitals around America, in the halls of Congress, in business, in the film industry, in the pulpit, and in every area of the culture. Help us fill the void of leadership in America! Tune in now to learn more!

Air Date: 05/22/2018

Guest: Nathan Macias and Austin Griesinger

On-air Personalities: Rick Green

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Transcription note:  As a courtesy for our listeners”€™ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Faith And The Culture

Rick:

You”€™ve found your way to the intersection of faith and the culture.  This is WallBuilders Live! Where we talk about today”€™s hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture. But always from a Biblical, historical, and Constitutional perspective.

Normally we”€™re here with David Barton, America”€™s premier historian, but David”€™s got the day off and in studio is my good friend and the executive director of Patriot Academy, Nathan Macias. Nathan, good to have you back, man, been too long.

Nathan Macias:

Thanks, Rick, glad to be here.

Rick:

Well, it”€™s a great time of year to start to talk about Patriot Academy. And by the way, folks, you can go to our websites today “€“ WallBuildersLive.com is our radio website and right there you can get archives of the program, stations we”€™re on across the country. And then as well you can go to WallBuilders.com “€“ our main website. There”€™s a lot of great tools there for you to equip and inspire your family. And then Nathan and I are going to be talking about a website called PatriotAcademy.com.

And, Nathan, it might sound like a college that you go to for years, but it”€™s not. It”€™s actually just one week, or are regional academies a few days, but it”€™s a chance to really get immersed in what it”€™s like to run the government “€“ actually be inside the belly of the beast.

Nathan Macias:

That”€™s exactly right, Rick. We”€™re excited about 2018. I know it”€™s cliche, but it”€™s going to be better than ever. We”€™re looking forward to having our six academies spread across the country. And just as you said, we”€™re talking about literally practical hands on, as realistic legislative sessions you can be, committees, the students not only learn and dive in deep, they have a great time while they”€™re doing.

Rick:

Not at a college campus or cafeteria room. They”€™re on the real floor. They”€™re sitting in the chairs that the legislators sit in, they”€™re on the microphones debating with each other just like a real legislative session would be.

Nathan Macias:

That”€™s exactly right. We actually use the state capitals at each of our locations. We use the actual committee rooms and the actual House or Senate floor. So, they”€™re sitting there as function”€“ as a legislator for that three days to seven days depending on the Academy they attend.

Rick:

So, if a student is out there listening, and of course we haven”€™t mentioned the age yet, a lot of people are saying, “€œThat sounds great. I”€™m 50, but I want to do it.”€ Well, it”€™s actually a student program. We do have a citizen track program for those over 25 “€“ we”€™ll talk about that a little bit.

But our main target, the main program we”€™re talking about here, is 16 to 25 years old. So, why that age range? What do you think is advantageous about students coming to Patriot Academy during those years?

Looking for Generational Leaders

Nathan Macias:

Well, the beauty of that age range is that we”€™re looking for generational leaders. We want to develop generational leaders. And when you have that larger gap of 16 to 25 year olds, that”€™s when they”€™re really forming their adulthood, what they”€™re going to carry forth as their principles into their vocation, into their family. And so we”€™re excited about the opportunity, as you said, Biblical, Constitutional, historical, perspective of good Godly government.

Rick:

It is an interesting time for them because a lot of times we”€™ll have students that come in “€“ they haven”€™t thought about any of these issues yet. They might be 16, 17, or sometimes 22 years old, and they”€™ve never thought about taxes, and what government”€™s role in their lives should be, or the role of government to protect and defend life, and protect and defend right. It just hasn”€™t been something that they sat around the table in their house talking about, so they”€™re brand new to it.

And then sometimes we get students that, man, they”€™ve done this a lot. They”€™ve been debate champs and they”€™ve been everything else. It”€™s a broad range “€“ I don”€™t think you have to be a particular hobby type person to do well at Patriot Academy.

Nathan Macias:

That”€™s exactly right. As we like to say, “€œWe”€™re all about leadership development.”€ Our real goal is to come alongside these young men and women and help equip them, and encourage them, and build them up, to be the leaders of their generation. So, whether you end up in ministry, whether you end up in industry, whether you end up in education, military, whatever sector of society you end up actually functioning in, the beauty is that you”€™ll have these tools these leadership tools and this experience you can take with you.

Perfect No Matter What Area of the Culture You”€™re Going Into

Rick:

So, if I”€™m hearing you correctly”€“ So, even if a student is, let”€™s say they”€™re in college and maybe they”€™re studying cinematography “€“ they”€™re going to go make movies. Or maybe they”€™re at seminary and they”€™re studying for the ministry. They could be going into engineering, they could be going into business, whatever area of the culture they”€™re going into, coming to Patriot Academy is going to help them do that better as a leader. But then also just be a good citizen. That”€™s a big part of this, right? Just learning how to be a good citizen.

Nathan Macias:

You”€™re 100 percent spot on. Rick, if we don”€™t continue this next generation to engage this generation to not only engage, but lead their generation. I like to say, “€œEvery generation is looking for and needs leaders.”€ When we tell these young men and women, “€œIt ought to be you. In fact, it must be you. It”€™s an exciting time that you live in.”€ There”€™s great opportunities out there to truly impact.

And we hope that as you come, regardless of where you end up, you”€™ll be an impactful. Not only as we talked about within that area, but citizenship in this great nation.

Rick:

I remember one of our graduates, listening to him speak one time, and he said something to the effect of, he described the kind of leaders that we need. And he said, “€œBut those don”€™t exist.”€ And then he paused for a minute and he said, “€œAh, but they do. I”€™ve seen them at Patriot Academy.”€ So, to now hear them, as the graduates of Patriot Academy, talking about how encouraging it was to them to come alongside and see all these other young people from across the country passionate about doing something, about actually getting engaged, and wanting to learn more, and become students of freedom, is really, really, cool got to take a quick break.

Get The Details!

Rick:

Got to take a quick break. Nathan Macias is our guest. If you want to find out more, it”€™s a real easy website “€“ PatriotAcademy.com. That”€™s PatriotAcademy.com. We”€™ll have links today at WallBuildersLive.com to make it easy for you.

But if you go to that website, that”€™s where you can get all the dates and we”€™ll ask Nathan about which regions of the country we”€™ll be in this year, what those dates are, which state capitols. So, we”€™ll talk about all that, but if you want an easy access to all of it it”€™s available at PatriotAcademy.com. You can do an application there. Again, it”€™s 16 to 25 is the age range for the students to actually be legislators. And then there”€™s one particular week we”€™ll talk about later in the program for our citizen track where students over”€“ or people over 25 can still come to Patriot Academy, to the National Academy, and participate in the citizen track.

And then we definitely want to talk before the day”€™s over about our military academy “€“ really cool program we just started last year. Stay with us. You”€™re listening to WallBuilders.

American History

This is Tim Barton from WallBuilders with another moment from American history. Many today wrongly claim that our Founding Fathers were largely atheists, agnostics, and deist.

Certainly some Founders were less religious than others, but even they were not irreligious. Consider Benjamin Franklin, definitely one of the least religious among them, yet, when the delegates at the Constitutional Convention hit an impasse in their deliberations it was Franklin who called them to prayer, invoking numerous scriptures to make his point.

As he reminded them, “€œGod governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured in the sacred writings that, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this.”€

So, even the least religious of America”€™s Founders urged public prayer in dependence on God. For more information about the faith of the Founding Fathers go to WallBuilders.com.

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live. Guest in studio today is Nathan Macias. He is the executive director of Patriot Academy, a former state legislator out of Texas, and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, and, I don”€™t know, what else did you do? I know you got master”€™s degrees, you”€™ve done curriculum, anything you haven”€™t done?

Nathan Macias:

Rick, there”€™s a lot of things that I haven”€™t done yet, but the beauty is that we”€™re developing the next generation that”€™s going to make it happen.

Rick:

There we go “€“ back on target. He”€™s much better at that than I am. I get off track easily and then he swings me back to the topic of the day which is the next generation of Patriotic Academy. Alright, man, we said before the break”€“ I think you said, so six different states were headed to this year. Talk to me about timeline “€“ when this summer are the Patriot Academies and where are we going?

Nathan Macias:

Excellent. So, we”€™ll be starting off our Southeast Regional academy in the state of Florida at the Capitol in Tallahassee June 11th through the 13th. Then we”€™re going to head out Northwest to Idaho in Boise, the state capitol, June 20th through the 22nd. Followed by the Southwest Regional Academy in Phoenix Arizona there at the Capitol June 27th through 29th. Next, we”€™ll head up to Delaware and our Northeast Regional Academy there at Dover from July 11th to July 13th.

Our national academy will kind of culminate the summer and that will be in Texas at the state capitol in Austin July 29 through August 4th.

Inaugural Mid-Atlantic Regional Academy This Fall

Nathan Macias:

And this year we will have our inaugural Mid-Atlantic Regional academy. Of course, that”€™s Virginia, the great state of Virginia, and the history that”€™s there in Virginia. That will be in the fall of 2018. We”€™re finalizing with the state capitol the dates and we”€™ll be announcing that soon.

Rick:

So, we start in Florida. Alright, so Southeast, and folks listening, because we”€™ve got people listening from all over the country, you don”€™t have to go to the one closest to you. Obviously, if that”€™s convenient you can do that. But Georgia, Florida, all the folks in the southeast there that are interested, the capitol there in Tallahassee it”€™s a great place to go. In fact, I was just there a couple weeks ago for an event at their Capitol and just reminded of how much fun we have at the Florida patriot Academy.

So, I really encourage people to check that one out. It will be the first one this year. And you said then Idaho”€™s, so Northwest. So if you”€™re in Washington, or Oregon, or Idaho, or   anywhere else in the country, if that”€™s an easier date for you, you can still fly in there. That one is actually in Boise right?

Nathan Macias:

That”€™s in Boise exactly right. And the beauty of that is that we get a great contingent out of Washington and out of Oregon that join together in that whole Northwest Regional Academy there in Boise.

Rick:

And then we head down to Arizona. And so I remember the last couple of years we”€™ve had more and more come from California to Arizona.

Nathan Macias:

That”€™s right.

Rick:

We keep having people from California saying, “€œWhen are you all bringing Patriot Academy to California?”€ I said, “€œI don”€™t know if we want to go to Sacramento.”€ But in Phoenix anyway we have one close enough to them that a lot of folks from California come over to that one and, again, you can go from anywhere. But the Arizona one “€“ great Capitol there as well. Looking forward to that one. So, all three of those are in June.

Then, in July, we head over to Delaware. So, some people are surprised when I tell them we”€™re in the Northeast. Are there still some conservatives and patriotic folks in the northeast? Absolutely. So, we kind of have a beachhead there in Dover, Delaware and you can come from any of the Northeast states and go to that Delaware regional Academy. And then, like you said, we”€™ll be doing Virginia later in the year.

The Big One and the Citizen Track

Rick:

Then the big one”€™s, so the Texas one you were talking about, the National Academy, last week in July, first week of August. So, for that one, we have multiple things happening at once. And one of those things that”€™s happening is the Citizen Track. Tell us “€“ what do you do on the Citizen Track and is there an actual requirement for being from a particular background, or age, or any of those things?

Nathan Macias:

Not at all. In the citizen track it”€™s going to run concurrent with our National Academy. In fact, yours starts a couple of days later, so it”€™s going to be July 31 through August 4th. And that particular Academy is for any citizens 26 and older. We are looking at training, again, equipping, encouraging, citizen activists.

We”€™ll talk about”€“ they”€™ll sit in on most of all of the lectures “€“ the art of communication, the art of compromise, how do you engage with your elected officials. And then also function as our citizen experts to help our young students during their committee times to be able to really give real world experience of why certain policy will work or not work.

Rick:

Now this might be hard for people to home to picture, but if you”€™ve ever been to a state capitol during a legislative session, or you”€™ve watched it online, if maybe you”€™ve seen a committee hearing online, that”€™s exactly what happens at Patriot Academy. And so, Nathan, what you”€™re describing the students are sitting there around the dais in those chairs just like a legislator would be, they”€™re debating the particular bill, or one of them is actually laying out that bill. Then we have the citizen track folks, just like you would if it was a real state legislature, you”€™re sitting out in the audience watching all that, but then you get an opportunity to testify.

How Do You Influence the Influencers?

Rick:

And we coach them on how do you actually become a witness on a particular bill or in a legislative committee? How do you go influence the influencers? How do you go testify in a way that will help push a piece of legislation “€“ or maybe kill a bad piece of legislation? So, it is, like you said, citizen training. It”€™s teaching them how to be citizen activists whatever their station in life.

You don”€™t have to be wealthy, you don”€™t have to be a pastor of a 10,000 member church “€“ any citizen has a right to have a voice in this wonderful system that we have. So, the citizen track gives you a chance to do that.

Nathan Macias:

That”€™s exactly right, Rick. And it”€™s interesting “€“ we”€™ve had citizens from 26 to 76 and everywhere in between. Just as you said “€“ socio economic background, whatever it might be, it”€™s fantastic to come through. And I”€™m telling you, you will certainly be encouraged when you”€™re around these young men and women who are the next generation of the patriots that you can actually also build into. It”€™s a great time.

Rick:

Quick break. Got to take a quick break “€“ we”€™ll be right back. We”€™ve still got to talk about our military academy. Coming up after the break we”€™re going to have the Governor of Patriot Academy for this year is going to share with us from a student perspective. And then we”€™ll have Nathan Macias back with us for our final segment.

So stay with us. You”€™re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Leadership Training Program

Rick:

Hey, friends! We’ve got a great program to share with you today. It”€™s the WallBuilders Leadership Training Program and it’s an opportunity for 18 to 25 year olds to come spend two weeks diving into the original documents we’re always talking about here on WallBuilders Live.

Tim, you’ve already been doing this a couple of summers and seen the results of young people coming to this program. We’re going to see more of them coming this year.

Tim:

Yeah, Rick, it”€™s something that”€™s been cool to see the transformation with young people coming in. The emphasis, for us, largely is a pursuit of truth. We have a culture that doesn’t know what truth is. We don’t know what biblical truth is, or constitutional truth, or the American heritage that we have. And so we really dive into original documents and say, “€œWell, what did they actually write? What did they actually do? Not just what did somebody say, what is actually true, and the truth is what’s transformational.

David:

Yeah, guys. This really is a remarkable opportunity. And for those who want to spend time with us and spend time in the original documents, this is a great program. So, if you’re from 18 to 25, or you know someone who’s 18 to 25, send them to sign up for one of our three sessions this summer at WallBuilders.com/leadershiptraining.

 

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live. We”€™ll be back with Nathan Macias in just a few minutes. In studio now is Austin Griesinger, governor of Patriot Academy this year in 2018. Governor, thanks for coming on, sir.

Austin Griesinger:

Thank you so much for having me.

Rick:

Hey, man, you were elected by the students of Patriot Academy to serve as their governor for this year which gives you a chance to mentor a whole other group of young people that are coming in. You”€™ve been doing this for a while. How many Patriot Academies have you been to?

Austin Griesinger:

How many Patriot Academies? Or how many years of Patriot Academy?

Rick:

Both.

Hearing From This Year”€™s Governor

Austin Griesinger:

Okay, so this will be my seventh year of Patriot Academy. And of academies with all the regionals and National Academy I think I”€™m at 17 or 18 “€“ I can”€™t even keep track at this point.

Rick:

That”€™s a lot of them. Okay, so not just the main academy here in Texas “€“ you”€™ve traveled around the country to go. And I”€™ve watched you. You”€™ve had a chance to mentor other young people coming for the first time and basically been an ambassador for Patriot Academy.

I know you speak it a lot of clubs, different groups, to inform people about Patriot Academy as well. When you do that you get longer than you”€™re getting on the radio program today. So, what would you say in just a few words is a reason for a student to even consider coming to Patriot Academy?

Austin Griesinger:

Well, like you just said, I have had the opportunity to travel all over the country to the other Patriot Academies. And when you grow up in Texas I think you get convinced that this is the only place where freedom really is.

Rick:

It”€™s not?

Austin Griesinger:

It”€™s not “€“ it”€™s really not. I”€™ve had the chance to actually get to meet hundreds of other young patriots “€“ men and women just like me “€“ all over the country who actually care about preserving liberty, and doing our due diligence, and fulfilling our civic duties. And that”€™s what Patriot Academy is. So, if you”€™re a young person that thinks you”€™re totally alone or you”€™re crazy on your college campus because you actually believe that conservative principles work and that this nation was founded on godly principles”€“

Rick:

Yeah.

Austin Griesinger:

“€“there are others like you. And Patriot Academy is a great place to meet them.

To Know You”€™re Not Alone

Rick:

So, that had to give you, I”€™m guessing, more hope “€“ not just for the future of America, but basically in your own generation. It encouraged you to know that there are other young people your age that are passionate about these things and want to make a difference.

Austin Griesinger:

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Rick:

How do you”€“ if you sit down with someone that”€™s thinking about going to Patriot Academy as a student, what do you give them as kind of a top three reasons to go?

Austin Griesinger:

Well, first I ask”€“

Rick:

And by the way, folks that are listening, the governor here had no prep on this telling me any of the questions I was going to ask him. So, we”€™re putting him on the spot here. Go ahead.

Austin Griesinger:

Well, that”€™s that”€™s an easy one. The first question I would ask is if they”€™re interested in politics. And if they say “€œno”€ I say, “€œWell, that doesn”€™t matter because I wasn”€™t interested in politics “€“ that was my brother”€™s gig. I did not care for it.”€

Rick:

No kidding. And when I came to Patriot Academy I realized it”€™s not about politics. That”€™s just the avenue we use to teach these principles.

Rick:

Yeah.

Austin Griesinger:

It”€™s about leadership. So, if you want to go somewhere where you”€™re going to be coached in leadership, where you”€™re going to have mentors who actually care about your well-being and care about seeing you impact the culture, Patriot Academy is the place to be. So that”€™s one.

Iron Sharpening Iron

Austin Griesinger:

The second one would be if you want a community of other young people who actually think the way you do. But not just think the way you do, but will challenge you on the beliefs you don”€™t necessarily agree on. And you can actually get that iron sharpening from other young people.

Rick:

Yeah.

Austin Griesinger:

Patriot Academy is a place for you. If you want to go somewhere where you”€™re surrounded by hundreds of other young people who actually want to make a difference, and not be somebody, but make a difference, and see a change in the culture, and create a nation that can sustain the people that are coming after. And not just care about who”€™s here now, but future generations, Patriot Academy is the place to be.

Rick:

Good stuff. Alright, he gave us three good ones. Governor, we”€™re out of time. Thank you so much for coming on today and thanks for helping to lead the next generation.

Austin Griesinger:

Thank you, sir.

Rick:

Be right back, folks. Stay with us. When we come back, Nathan Macias with us on WallBuilders Live.

Share a veteran”€™s story

We Want To Hear Your Vet Story

Rick:

Hey friends! If you have been listening to WallBuilders Live for very long at all, you know how much we respect our veterans and how appreciative we are of the sacrifice they make to make our freedoms possible. One of the ways that we love to honor those veterans is to tell their stories here on WallBuilders Live.  Once in awhile, we get an opportunity to interview veterans that have served on those front lines that have made incredible sacrifices have amazing stories that we want to share with the American people.

One of the very special things we get to do is interview World War II veterans. You”€™ve heard those interviews here on WallBuilders Live, from folks that were in the Band of Brothers, to folks like Edgar Harrell that survived the Indianapolis to so many other great stories you heard on WallBuilders Live.

You have friends and family that also served.  If you have World War II veterans in your family that you would like to have their story shared here on WallBuilders Live, please e-mail us at [email protected].  Give us a brief summary of the story and we”€™ll set up an interview. Thanks so much for sharing here on WallBuilders Live!

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live. Thanks to Governor Austin Griesinger for joining us today in that last segment sharing from a student”€™s perspective.

We”€™re back with Nathan Macias now, executive director of Patriot Academy and former legislator. And, Nathan, earlier in the program you were telling us about the student program “€“ 16 to 25 students from all over the country. Sometimes, we”€™ve had students from Canada and we”€™d love to have them from all over the world come in and get the chance to learn about how our constitutional republic works. But they come in from all over, they get to live the life of a legislator, they learn Biblical worldview of government, they learn speaking skills, all the things you mentioned earlier. And then you mentioned there”€™s a way for citizens over 25 to participate in that.

Why Is the Military Academy Important?

Rick:

I mentioned it, but tell us about the military academy. As a military officer and someone that loves our country, why do you think this military academy is important?

Nathan Macias:

Well, we were so excited last year in 2017 to launch our Military Veterans Academy. And we”€™re, of course, going to bring it back again this year and we”€™re excited about this. In the military we have young”€“ we have men and women who have served, who have developed leadership skills, who understand how the government works. And we just think that we ought to be really taking advantage of that.

So, we, again, come alongside they are sworn in as legislators for the week in our mock legislative session. We have dynamic renowned national speakers, we have hands on workshops from how to run a campaign and operate a campaign to, again, the art of godly compromise, building coalitions. And we bring these veterans in and really help to encourage them to possibly run for office someday. Or at minimum, be engaged with the leadership skills that they already have in their tool box and just enhance those.

Rick:

And some of the guys that are teaching and coaching these military veterans are exactly the kind of leaders we”€™re hoping to get out of that group. Men like Lieutenant Colonel Brian Birdwell who”€™s a state senator here in Texas. That represents exactly the kind folks we want is former military running for local office. It may be that they run for school board, or city council, or whatever, but in this case they”€™re serving as legislators.

You yourself, Nathan, having been in both arenas, having been a legislator and been on the military side, it gives these folks coming on that Military Track a chance to really ask a lot of the questions about what it”€™s like to make that transition and to see how that would actually work.

I saw a lot of hope in them not only like you”€™re saying potentially running for office, but I remember them saying that by being around the young students that were on the other side of the Capitol. So, we had a lot of time for them to interact. We had our Military Track folks or are Military Academy folks on the Senate side and we had the young students on that on the House side, but once in a while they interacted.

And I remember those military veterans, several of them, commenting on how much hope it gave them to say, “€œWhat I fought for is alive and well. There is a way to save this thing. I see it in these young people.”€

Nathan Macias:

No doubt, Rick. The military veterans were just blown away by that interaction that they had with the young students. And quite honestly, I heard it from the other direction too.

Rick:

Those young students were so honored to be able to interact, and learn from, and be poured into by these military veterans who had served “€“ some as little as one tour of duty to others that were 30 year veterans retired. But they truly enjoyed being around”€“ So, the interaction between the Military Veteran Academy and the student academy was really dynamic and powerful.

What is the Cost?

Rick:

Okay. Something we haven”€™t talked about yet, Nathan, is cost. Folks are listening to this and going, “€œOh, yes, this sounds incredible. I”€™d love the opportunity for my son, or daughter, granddaughter, or this young man or woman from my church, to get a chance to be around these kind of young people and to learn how to be a leader in this case.”€

Or maybe, “€œI want to go on the Citizen Track.”€ Or, “€œI want to go on the Military Track.”€ You know, “€œIf I”€™m going to spend a week at a state capitol is this five thousand dollars? Ten thousand dollars? What”€™s this thing going to cost me?”€

Nathan Macias:

Well, the nice thing is at our National Academy was is kind of our”€“

Rick:

Well, the first answer is “€œNo, not five thousand.”€

Nathan Macias:

Not five thousand. Not at all. Our National Academy”€“

Rick:

If they wanted to give  $5,000 though, we would take that.

Nathan Macias:

We”€™d be happy to take that. As a 501C3, really our heart is to develop leaders. And so we”€™ve kept our costs as low as possible. Our National Academy for seven days “€“ lodging, and room, and board, all the facilities, everything you need for that week, is roughly anywhere from 800 to 1,000 dollars.

Rick:

So, under a thousand bucks for a whole week”€“

Nathan Macias:

Under a thousand.

What It Covers

Rick:

“€“meals, you”€™re staying at the Doubletree Hotel, you”€™ve got nice lodging, you”€™ve got good food, all your materials, the experience, the whole nine yards. And I am assuming we”€™re past early bird, right?

Nathan Macias:

We”€™re past early bird. No, I”€™m sorry, let me take that back, we”€™re past our super early bird.

Rick:

Super early bird.

Nathan Macias:

We”€™re in our early bird rate right now “€“ it”€™s nine hundred dollars.

Rick:

Okay.

Nathan Macias:

Eight hundred and ninety five dollars by April 15th and you can receive that rate by April 15th. Applications you can find online at PatriotAcademy.com. Our regionals average anywhere from about 250 dollars to about 350 dollars.

Rick:

That”€™s the ones you were talking about in Idaho, and Arizona”€“

Nathan Macias:

Exactly.

Rick:

“€“and Florida, and Delaware.

Nathan Macias:

Our regional academies “€“ they are a three day academy. Once again, a bargain price. The beauty with our Military Academy, our Military Veterans Academy is at 149 dollars for that five day Academy.

Rick:

Wow.

Become a Sponsor

Rick:

Thanks to our sponsors and donors”€“

Nathan Macias:

That”€™s exactly right.

Rick:

Some people listening now may not be able to go, but they may say, “€œHey, I want to sponsor a veteran, or a student.”€ They could make a donation. It”€™s what makes it possible to, as you said, 149 bucks for a veteran to come get this experience.

Nathan Macias:

Exactly. So, we”€™d love other individuals to contact us to help sponsor that military veteran to come down and get that great price of $149. And 300 dollars for the five days will cover for the citizen track. But that does not include lodging “€“ does not include lodging, and some meals. So, it includes some of the meals and then also all of the materials”€“

Rick:

And all of those details available on the website, right?

Nathan Macias:

PatriotAcademy.com. All the details we”€™d love to have everybody check us out. And if you know”€“ right now there”€™s somebody listening who might be thinking of some young person, or some citizen, that they would like to”€“ or a military veteran”€“

Rick:

Yeah.

Nathan Macias:

“€” that they”€™d like to see attend Patriot Academy “€“ please go to PatriotAcademy.com, check us out, and let other people know, spread the word.

Rick:

And I would say to folks listening “€“ you want some hope? Go to that website “€“ if nothing else “€“ go to that website, and watch some of those videos, and see these young people in action. It will encourage you, it will inspire you, it will let you know help is on the way. God truly is raising up a remnant of young leaders with the right conviction and the skills to go effectively lead in every area of the culture.

Patriot Academy, Hands On Civics Training At A Capitol Near You

Rick:

It”€™s called Patriot Academy “€“ PatriotAcademy.com is website. It”€™s a great opportunity to learn, it”€™s going to be a lot of great speakers and folks learn from “€“ David and Tim Barton, Nathan that”€™s with us today, myself, a lot of others. We have special speakers every year that come in. So, it”€™s just a great, great, experience. Check it out at PatriotAcademy.com.

We”€™re out of time for today. We sure appreciate you listening. You”€™ve been listening to WallBuilders Live.