Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to the intersection of faith and culture. It's the WallBuilders Show, taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. Rick Green here with David Barton and Tim Barton. And actually, today we've got some special guests in the studio with us. So a little bit different programming this week for the next few days. We're gonna be talking about the Patriot Institute at the Patriots Academy campus. And we're gonna to be hearing from some of the students that have experienced that entire academic year at the campus what it meant to them and why they recommend other young people consider the same and we're down to just a few days by the end of this week that you have to have your application in because the Institute starts in just about two and a half weeks. So, check it out today at PatriotAcademy.com/institute seated here in the studio I have three of our Patriot Institute graduates who are gonna tell you a little bit about their experience and I believe give you hope for the because trust me, help is on the way. We are raising up a new generation of Patriots that understand what biblical citizenship is all about, and they're finding their purpose, they're going into all kinds of areas of the culture. And they're learning how to get closer to God and be good patriots. So, we have Bella, Hannah, and Zach, all three with me. Hannah, you're the, let's see, most seasoned graduate because you graduated from the institute more than a year ago. And Bella and Zach just graduated in May and are now working full-time for Patriot Academy at the campus. So, it was convenient for them to be in the studio today. In fact, I just grabbed them away from, I don't know what y'all were doing. What were you doing?
Hannah [00:01:35] We were painting in the Patriot Cottages today.
Rick Green [00:01:37] You're painting today.
Hannah [00:01:38] Yes, sir.
Rick Green [00:01:39] Okay, so there you go. We're getting ready for a whole new class of Institute students who will be here in October. But Hannah, first of all, how was your Institute experience? How did you find the Institute? What did you learn from it? All those big questions answered in 30 seconds. No, you have all the time you want.
Hannah [00:01:55] 30 seconds, okay. So my oldest brother Joshua attended the leadership Congress in 2008 and I was four years old. And whenever he attended, that kind of started my family's interaction with Patriot Academy. And then it just became something that we did all the time. My parents wanted to raise kids that understood biblical citizenship. They wanted to raise kids who knew what patriotism looked like. And leadership Congress was somewhere that they took us as soon as we were old enough every summer to not just learn about apologetics and politics. But really to just learn how to articulate ourselves really well and how to combat a culture that truly does want to bring death to my generation. And that may not mean physical death, though one third of Gen Z is not alive because of the culture, but also a spiritual death. And so going to Leadership Congress was just something that we did every summer. It was something that I looked forward to doing when I was too young to go. And as soon as I was 16, it was something I was just so excited to do.
Rick Green [00:02:52] You can be the only non-Green that started coming to Patriot Academy at four years old.
Hannah [00:02:56] That's yes, yes.
Rick Green [00:02:57] That's crazy. I have forgotten about that.
Hannah [00:02:59] Yeah, you let me on the house floor for the first time when I was 11 years old and you said I could get on the House floor as long as I would give you and Nathan Macias and Miss Kara all a high five That was my payment. And so of course little 11-year-old Hannah was like, yes! This is exactly what I want to do! So, I ran around and gave high fives and then I went and I tried to debate on a bill that was gonna legalize poker in Texas and I was like you can't do this and I don't know why I decided but I was I was very adamant.
Rick Green [00:03:25] You were working the floor.
Hannah [00:03:26] Oh, I was. I was working the floor
Rick Green [00:03:29] Man! Did you win? Did you get enough votes to kill it? No. No?
Hannah [00:03:30] No, no, I did, I didn't lose. I did.
Rick Green [00:03:35] But, you came back. You got back in the fight.
Hannah [00:03:36] I did.
Rick Green [00:03:36] And then, when did you get to come as an actual student the first time?
Hannah [00:03:39] My first time.
Rick Green [00:03:40] Like 15 or so?
Hannah [00:03:41] No, actually, I didn't want to come early.
Rick Green [00:03:43] You waited till you were 16.
Hannah [00:03:44] So because we came and we volunteered every summer, I really enjoyed the volunteer process. So, I came and I actually got to babysit a couple of the speakers' kids for like two years. And then I wanted to come at 16.
Rick Green [00:03:55] And you served food though, right?
Hannah [00:03:57] I did I served food and helped with the littles and had so much fun with that. And I think that was probably something that really prepared me well to be in the Patriot Institute
Rick Green [00:04:06] You have such a servant's heart.
Hannah [00:04:07] Started really young.
Rick Green [00:04:08] At the beginning, yeah.
Hannah [00:04:09] Mhm.
Rick Green [00:04:09] For the listeners, Hannah, we plug her into everything. So she does public speaking, she does the coffee shop, she helps to now run the Institute. She's basically the assistant to the directors and they organize the schedule and all the good stuff. So, I mean, you do have a servant's heart. Whatever you're asked, you jump in there and do. And I had forgotten about that. So if you can serve green beans, you can get up and speak in front of a thousand people.
Hannah [00:04:31] Yeah, that's, I think that's where it started because you have to, you have all these kids coming through and as like a 12- and 13-year-old, you're watching these young adults come in and they're in between five and 10 years older than you and they are walking through this line and you're getting to see them truly see the value of ethical education. You're getting them see the value and want to spend their time. I would say the first few times I went; I was not excited to be there because I wanted to be off with my cousin.
Rick Green [00:04:56] You're breaking my heart! Oh no, I'm kidding! I'm Kidding!
[00:04:57] I was 10 and 12 Rick! I loved the teaching, but there was also the part of it's like, man, I could have been home like playing around, but then I'm seeing these kids who have even like their clock in life is going.
Rick Green [00:05:10] And just so the audience can picture when she says, seeing these kids, these are 16- to 25-year-olds and they're all dressed up, man. They're wearing suits and dresses and they are serving as legislators. When you were coming back then, we would have been at the Texas Capitol down in the extension there having lunch. And so you're seeing them after they're coming off the house, when they're out of committee or.
Hannah [00:05:31] And you're getting to hear just their heart and their passion and so that's what really made me want to come.
Rick Green [00:05:37] And watching them with a golf ball in their hand.
Hannah [00:05:37] Yes, and uh when I was when I, was 13, there were, I was so frustrated because they would not give me and my little brother a golf ball and they're like well, it's because you're 13 and 10 like you're gonna drop it. And so we went in and with our allowance money we went and bought Texas colored golf balls from the Texas....
Rick Green [00:05:53] Did you really?
Hannah [00:05:54] Yes from the Texas gift shop. And that was our character for the next until I was old enough to go, I was about 16.
Rick Green [00:05:59] Okay, wait, okay, time out, so this is a good chance to bring Zach and Bella into the conversation. What in the world does a golf ball have to do with your character? So that's your first question, which one of y'all wanna say? All right, Zach, golf balls and character, what?
Zach [00:06:13] All right, the golf ball is probably my favorite moments of going through an LC and just starts off with usually the cabinet coming out and saying, here's your golf ball, don't drop it, this is your character. What it represents is it's something that is small, easy to hold, but once you lose it, it's very difficult to get back because everyone else is trying to snatch it from you. And that's essential what the representation is.
Rick Green [00:06:43] So, it's a metaphor for real character.
Zach [00:06:43] Yes,
Rick Green [00:06:45] The fact is you could loose your real character anywhere when you compromise your principles.
Zach [00:06:49] And Patriot Academy, they make it a little easier to get it back. You just have to go memorize a character quote, or if you lose it three times, then you have to sing, Oh, where's my golf ball? For those of you who know Veggie Tales, it's, Oh, Where's My Hairbrush? But, Where Is My Golf Ball? And it's always one of my favorite things just to watch the freshmen firsthand at it, completely confused about what it's about, trying to,.
Rick Green [00:07:13] You think it's silly at first.
Zach [00:07:14] You think it's silly, or trying to like tape it for themselves, things like that.
Rick Green [00:07:15] Which I get it. I though myself it was like the dumbest idea ever. I was like no we're not gonna have students hold golf balls while they're typing on their computer or whatever but anyway it... At first did you think the same thing like first time you came?
Zach [00:07:26] Oh a hundred... A hundred percent. I thought I was like I thought was the craziest thing. But then seeing like as the week progresses then you really start to care and start to notice it and probably my favorite things after a Patriot Academy Leadership Congress, is in the group chat, weeks later, months later, you'll see someone post a picture where they still have their golf ball. Whether they're hiking on top of mountains, just out daily work, and they just don't they still have it.
Rick Green [00:07:51] Holding it up saying I'm still got my character.
Zach [00:07:53] Yes sir.
Rick Green [00:07:53] Dude I love that. So now let's ask Bella what do you remember about the golf ball and character?
Bella [00:08:00] So, Mr. Rick, I don't know if you know this, but I've actually never been through Leadership Congress.
Rick Green [00:08:03] You didn't do leadership congress? Only the Institute?
Bella [00:08:03] No, sir. Yes, sir.
Rick Green [00:08:03] Okay, never mind you don't get that question. Okay, let's actually it's a perfect time to tell the difference. What's the difference between a Leadership Congress and going to the actual Patriot Institute?
Bella [00:08:15] So I've got to help run a few Patriot Experiences that have come here on the campus, never actually done a Leadership Congress, but the difference is you're here for a longer period of time, you get poured into, like, if anyone's ever come to the Patriot Congress...
Rick Green [00:08:28] You're actually living here.
Bella [00:08:29] You're actually living here on Patriot Academy for the Patriots Institute for a period of nine months, and you get to experience different speakers come in, just like you get to at a Leadership congress, you get different speakers to come in and they get to pour into you and talk to you. You also get to hang out with this guy. He gets to pour into you and talks to you and you learn, you learn how to live life. Like, I came here when I was 18 and learning first step out of the home, how to life and how to go about daily communication with other people and holding down a job and working here on campus for Patriot Academy. So there's a couple of the practical differences between.
Rick Green [00:09:03] You get a lot more interaction with the other students too. I mean, you're literally doing life together.
Bella [00:09:08] Yes, that's correct. You definitely get to get to build a culture here in and of itself because you get to set that standard and you get set that culture no matter your you can have different opinions, you can have different standards and different things but we all get to work through them and we all get to them out and definitely build each other up because you can be the one who either sits back and says I'm gonna let that slide or you can say no, we are gonna be better than that here. We are going to raise you.
Rick Green [00:09:36] You're really sharpening each other.
Bella [00:09:37] Yes, it's definitely iron sharpening, yes.
Rick Green [00:09:40] Okay, so let me ask you guys, Zach and Hannah, y'all went through Leadership Congress first, so you got like three days, I guess first time you came was three days in Colorado, right, did you do that one first or did you come to nationals first?
Zach [00:09:50] I did Colorado first, but I did the one where...
Rick Green [00:09:52] It was it was longer.
Zach [00:09:54] Yeah, it was a longer. Like, whitewater rafting, Western Server Summit, baseball game. Yeah.
Rick Green [00:09:59] Okay, so you got a few days together with other Patriots, but then you came for the whole year. What was what was that like? I mean you're kind of I mean, you're it's a big commitment to be here for nine, nine months. You are, like Bella's saying, doing life together. You're having to you got roommates. You're having to learn how to live with people, eat with people. You know, that maybe have different personalities and you have conflicts and you learn how work that out. But then you're also diving into class four hours a day, we got to do some cool servant kind of stuff, going to help with flood victims. You're doing all kinds of stuff throughout the year. I guess just kind of hit on some of the takeaways after nine months. How did it change you? Or what did you learn about yourself and what you wanted to do with life? And what were some of the big takeaways after a year of being on campus? Any of y'all can jump into that one.
Zach [00:10:51] Hmm, let's see big takeaways.
Rick Green [00:10:54] By the way, I should tell the audience, I gave these three a lot of warning about the interview today and the questions. That's a lie, I didn't do that. I gave them, what, 30 minutes notice? Maybe, an hour? Just an hour. Yeah, maybe an hour's notice and didn't give them anything about what the questions were gonna be. So I'm loving the fact that they're having to do all this on the spot.
Zach [00:11:15] I got no such hour notice.
Rick Green [00:11:19] I walked into the office where Zach was sitting. I was like wait a minute. I thought you were gone today, and he was here. So I said, hey, come on
Zach [00:11:25] Yeah, right. Right in the middle of making a reel for the Patriot Academy Instagram page
Rick Green [00:11:29] Check it out. See, Zach does media for us now.
Zach [00:11:33] Big, big takeaways from the Institute. I would say, I would say two- two massive takeaways for me one is comes from the content and the other comes from community.
Rick Green [00:11:44] Okay.
Zach [00:11:45] From the content I am saying...
Rick Green [00:11:47] Meaning like the content in the classroom, like with the actual curriculum you had to go through.
Zach [00:11:52] Yes, with that, one of the largest things I'd say is, coming from a very, very homeschooled Christian background, you're taught a lot of the right things. And there's a major difference between simply assuming, or simply having the right assumptions, but then truly understanding that for yourself. You can assume the right thing or believe the right thing. There is a massive amount of depth and weight that has to it when you believe, when you understand why it's true and how it impacts you. The world-view classes and all the training with that, with Mr. Dunham, that was massively impactful for that. And then I would say the second- It was-
Rick Green [00:12:31] And was it that you had never been exposed to any of those ideas? Because like you said, you grew up in a Christian home, so you had a lot of the head knowledge, but this really made you go deeper to where you understood what was behind that principle. You know, you might have been taught something was right or wrong, but through the classroom time and diving into the curriculum, the conversation sitting in the coffee shop, you were really getting the why that was right or wrong. You were really diving into it. That's why I understood what you just said.
Zach [00:12:58] That is 100% what it is.
Rick Green [00:13:00] So that was, that's the content part. Okay. And then you said you had a big one on the community, but it was community cell, the community one. Cause I have to take a break.
Zach [00:13:06] All right.
Rick Green [00:13:06] So this is the world of radio. Y'all welcome. I, I hear the music out there. So, uh, we're going to get ready for a break here. I've got three of our Patriot Institute graduates with me. And we're talking about what it's like to be here on the campus at Patriot Academy in Constitution City for a full nine-month academic year and how it's changed their lives. And, part of the reason I want them to be in here and so I've got some scholarships to give away. I got some money burning a hole in my pocket. And we're two weeks away from the start date and you know somebody in your life that could benefit from the things that these students are talking about. But we're gonna take a quick break. We'll be right back. You're listening to The WallBuilders Show.
Rick Green [00:14:46] Welcome back to The WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us. If you just tuned in, unusual program today. I'm usually pontificating on whatever has happened in the news and given the good, the bad, and the ugly, but today I have three special guests in the studio with me, they are all Patriot Institute grads, which means they spent a full year here on the campus, full academic year, nine months, learning all kinds of worldview, apologetics, I mean, master's level training and those things. They did debates, they learned communication skills, they did... All kinds of life skills, they did life together, they learned how to interact, I mean, it was just awesome. Hannah came to us in our very first class, so she was one of my lab rats, I call them my lab rats, my guinea pigs, 12 of y'all, the dozen that came through in the first year, so we practiced on them. We learned how do the Patriot Institute. And then Zach and Bella came last year, in our second year, 27 of them in that class. We were still kinda practicing on y'all, so we still learned a lot, and y'all did a great job of helping us to improve it. So. Now we've got students showing up here in two weeks, gonna be in the Institute class for 2026 to 2027, and we have some spots left. So as part of why I wanted these three amazing young people to talk about their experience, because there's people listening right now who might wanna come to the Institute or you know someone in your life that's 17 to 23, 24. We'd even make an exception maybe for 25. And I have scholarships burning a hole in my pocket. It's 20,000 bucks to come for the whole year. I have $15,000. In scholarships. I have multiple scholarships of $15,000 each that I can give out if someone decides they want to apply between now. What do you think Hannah? They probably need to have their application in in the next four or five days? Because you and Hannah, I mean you and Reagan and Faith don't have much time to-
Hannah [00:16:29] The official-basically what they said in our last ask was about September 28th is like the last day we can get an application and we can make it work if you come in on the 28th. But like after that, it'll be really, really, really tight
Rick Green [00:16:41] Okay, so what she said is it's got to be in on the 21st. No, I'm kidding, 28th. Okay, you got a little bit of time to talk it over. Okay, let's talk about what that means. So you come here, you live in a cottage, you go to class four hours every day, you do a service day where we go out and serve other people or you work here on the campus serving. What else do you do? What do you in your spare time at the Patriot Institute when you're here full time? What did you do with your days other than go to class?
Bella [00:17:09] So right after class, we would either get lunch and we could go to lunch with Mr. Krish sometimes. He would be available to be able to pour into us outside of class time. And then also he, we would have times after class where we would meet together in the evening. So after all the work, some people worked off campus, some people work here on campus.
Rick Green [00:17:26] What'd you do?
Bella [00:17:26] I got to work in the coffee shop a lot. Okay. So I got to work at a coffee shop and help out with our new roasting system because we're actually roasting our own beans here at Patriot Academy.
Rick Green [00:17:35] No, go ahead and quick the plug-in. We'll get a shameless plug for Patriot Brew right now.
Bella [00:17:39] Oh yeah, you should definitely go to Patriot Brew and check it out because we have all different kinds of roasts that we are perfecting by the day to day and it's really good. So yeah, if you don't get to actually come on campus, you can order it from offline.
Rick Green [00:17:52] And then tell us about chapel because we also do chapel once a week, around the fire kind of stuff. What about those kinds of things outside of class?
Bella [00:17:59] Yes, so we also had family dinners. So besides the chapel, besides after work, after class, we would have chapel and get to listen to Reagan and just be able to intentionally spend time in worship and in the Word with each other. We also had Family Dinners, which Hannah here hosted at the apartment girl's home, where they invited all of us in and we got to have another Bible study time, but also just a family community. There's not a lot of places that you go that invite people into your home, and you get to share a meal together, you get to cook a meal, you clean it up together. There's so much value by just being with each other and learning from each other and seeking to pour into each other.
Rick Green [00:18:47] So Zach, what'd you do in your spare time when you weren't in class? Did you do media during the institute? I can't remember.
Zach [00:18:54] I originally got hired on for media, but then we need a lot more help in the print shop and with the making of the shirts and all that.
Rick Green [00:19:01] That's right, you did a lot of designing of our swag that we've got now.
Zach [00:19:05] Yes, sir. Yeah, so all the stuff for Patriot Brew, I think Hannah you and I primarily did most design work on that
Rick Green [00:19:14] So we got our Patriot Brew Swag, hats and shirts and all that good stuff, and then a lot of cool patriotic shirts as well for the 250th. So designing that in our print shop, we're gonna print shop or some of our Institute students work in the shipping department or landscaping. What about when you guys got to help with when we had groups come in and we did leadership congresses where you got to coach them on how the legislative process works? Tell me a little bit about that. Any or all.
Zach [00:19:43] That was that was always very fun. I especially love doing community leadership whether it be chair or vice-chair and just helping walk everyone through the process.
Rick Green [00:19:52] And that means, by the way, in the audience, committee leadership is, I mean, we do an actual legislative simulation. So they're either on the floor debating a bill or first go into committee. We have six really cool committee rooms. And so they break into committees. And so, they have to, they work these committees in the same way that a real legislature does. And so you're actually serving as a chairman or a vice chairman and leading that committee for people that have never done that before. So you're having to train them on how to testify, how to lay out their bill, that sort of thing.
Zach [00:20:19] Yeah, and that's just really fun, just helping walk people through the process, especially when they're so uncertain on their first time or nervous about it, or aren't really sure to do it. And it's always great when you have someone like that who then you just need a little bit, a little bit of knowledge, a bit of encouragement. And when they do go through and do it, blow it out of the water, do absolutely amazing. That's probably my favorite.
Rick Green [00:20:38] Well, I know why that's rewarding to you and all of you because you remember what it felt like when you came the first time to one and you had to lay your bill on committee and you're nervous and you're not sure about how it all works. And so being able to then turn around and make someone else comfortable and learn that. And then, you know, have that, that victory, you know that thrill of victory that they actually did it. That's a, that's a very rewarding thing. One more break today, folks stay with us. You're listening to The WallBuilders Show.
Rick Green [00:22:11] We're back on The Wallbuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us. Zach and Hannah and Bella all in the studio with me to talk about the Patriot Institute.
Hannah [00:22:18] So my first, am I good right here? My first leadership congress, I went up to my chair, who was the legendary Elijah O'Neil, and...
Rick Green [00:22:29] By legendary, we mean like probably the best public speaker we ever had come through Patriot Institute. And he runs Glenn Beck's American Journey Experience now.
Hannah [00:22:39] He's an amazing public speaker. But he was very well known for tearing apart bills if they weren't good enough.
Rick Green [00:22:45] Where you intimidated a little bit?
Hannah [00:22:46] I was terrified.
Rick Green [00:22:47] You're terrified, yeah.
Hannah [00:22:48] I was probably about bill number six and we'd only passed one because he killed all of them. And so I go up to him and I'm like, Elijah, I can't, like I'm already so terrified. And he's like, I'm not gonna go easy on you. Like just because you're scared doesn't mean that the enemy is not gonna be any less frightful.
Rick Green [00:23:04] Mm-hmm, yeah.
Hannah [00:23:05] So, I go in.
Rick Green [00:23:06] He's like, I can't sharpen iron against a marshmallow.
Hannah [00:23:08] Exactly.
Rick Green [00:23:08] You better be iron.
Hannah [00:23:09] I presented my bill, it passed, I got questioned. I cried the entire time. I did not stop crying the entire time I presented in my bill. And I started it off and I was like, listen, when we start asking questions, I'm gonna start crying. It's okay, like I'm going to warn you all right now. I will be crying, but it's fine. Don't worry about it. So I did, I cried the entire bill presentation, but I did it. And then a couple of years later.
Rick Green [00:23:33] It's our party. We can cry if we want to.
Hannah [00:23:34] Exactly. It was not my committee, but I did cry even though I didn't want to. And I'm getting to be committee leadership. And it's at one of our Community Patriot Experiences. And so I'm probably the youngest person in this committee by in between 35 and 50 years. And getting to see these people who, in the sense of what the world would expect, they should be done learning because they're in their 60s or they're in their 70s. And you come in with this expectation of, oh, they're going to think they know everything. Because there's this 20-year-old fresh kid who's sitting at the front of the room and is telling-
Rick Green [00:24:09] And this is just in case the audience hasn't pictured this, this is where we have groups that come to the campus and they're doing a legislative simulation. These aren't young students. These are people of all ages, and so literally in their 60s, 70s, 80s. And they're coming to learn how to be a good citizen. They're coming learn how testifying committees back home or before their school board or whatever. And they are being taught by these three young people right here. So they've got, you know, 19, 20, 21, 22-year-olds that are teaching them the process. So that's I just want to make sure everybody's picturing what you described.
Hannah [00:24:37] Good visual there. And I know that a lot of the hope of this nation, people say it always lies in the hearts and minds of our young people. But I think that a lotta the hope in this nation for the young people lies in the intensity of the desire to know more that is in the generations that are before us. And so getting to be the 20-year-old, I didn't want to be. Being there that weekend and getting to see them learn the process, getting to see these people come in on their free time who have full-time jobs and are working or are retired and have grandkids are spending their time getting to come in to learn what I have just learned. Because that desire to know never dies. And that encouraged me and called me to a higher standard, but the best part was them coming in and saying, I can't present my bill and me getting to pull the Elijah O'Neal and saying, well, you're going to have to.
Rick Green [00:25:29] Get people 50 years older than you, and you're coaching them.
Hannah [00:25:32] And you get to the end of committee and we always have a time at the very end of our committee session, the very last day where we do thorns and roses. And so we start doing thorns and roses and one of the first people to answer says, I thought that this process was too difficult for me to understand, but now I'm gonna be at my capital next week because they make this seem like something that you can't possibly understand. They make this the seem like something...
Rick Green [00:25:57] Back home. Back home.
Hannah [00:25:57] Back home, mm-hmm.
Rick Green [00:25:58] Yeah, yeah, they try to intimidate people from being involved in the process, because they don't want people coming. It's impossible.
Hannah [00:26:02] It's impossible to go testify or it's too scary to go testify and we're putting in this process where they're not only having to go testify but they're having to go and present their own bill and defend their own bill and from in front of a committee of peers but of people who are wanting to call you to a higher standard and who are iron sharpening you. And so they're asking you the hard questions and they're stumping you at the mic and you're having to think and you have to reason in your head and get better.
Rick Green [00:26:27] Alright folks out of time for today. We're going to have Zach and Hannah and Bella back with us tomorrow. So don't miss it. Be sure and check it out at wallbuilders.show today and share it with your friends and family and send those students to patriotademy.com/institute. Thanks so much for listening to the WallBuilders Show.