Mr. Schweitzer came to Maranatha to help the Lincoln Douglas debaters prepare arguments for their upcoming debate about plea bargaining in the United States criminal justice system. His perspectives from a police officer’s point of view and an attorney’s viewpoint on the subject helped students develop a complete understanding of the issue. Students were extremely engaged with the speaker’s presentation and several students stayed after class to ask additional questions beyond what were addressed during the class session.  

Mr. Schweitzer helped Maranatha’s Speech and Debate coach Mr. Pat Mesisca start the Speech and Debate program about 10 years ago when his daughters Selina and Erica attended Maranatha. Mr. Schweitzer also helped establish the Pasadena Bar Association Speech Tournament that allowed Maranatha Speech students the opportunity to compete and earn scholarship awards until the annual tournament was discontinued last year. Maranatha senior Trinity Moore won first place and the $5,000 grand prize two years ago in the last Pasadena Bar Association Speech Tournament. Mr. Mesisca said, “I am grateful for Mr. Schweitzer’s contributions to our Speech and Debate program. His expertise in speech and debate and his personal experiences in law have served our speech and debate program well over the years.”