Youth speaker • Midwest • Based in Boise
The top youth speaker in the Midwest flies in the day before, and the flight is already in the price.
Chad Kempel is a youth keynote speaker with 4 Guinness World Records titles, an MA in Experimental Psychology, and three talks built for high school assemblies. He lives in Boise. His grandparents came from Langdon and Wales, North Dakota, and Chicago and Minneapolis are nonstop flights, so the Midwest isn’t a stretch. For a Midwest school the rate is one number, with the airfare, rental car and hotel already in it.
Midwest Rate: from $4,000 per assembly, travel included · See what’s included ↓Other regions have their own pages: Idaho · California · Western states · East Coast · The South · Hawaii · Alaska
Why a speaker based in Boise works for a Midwest school
Most out-of-state speakers quote a fee and then a travel line: airfare, hotel, mileage, meals, and a total nobody can confirm until the receipts show up. Chad quotes one number. For the 2026–27 school year a Midwest assembly is $4,000, and that includes the flight, the rental car and the hotel. No deposit. He invoices after the talk.
He also flies in the day before, every time. A first-period assembly in Rockford or Rochester doesn’t depend on a 6 a.m. departure out of Boise going right. If the weather turns, that’s his problem, not yours. The talk is the same one he gives in Idaho. The distance is the only thing that changes.
The Midwest isn’t a blank spot on his map, either. His grandmother was born in Langdon, North Dakota, and his grandfather came from Wales, a small town in the same county. When the quintuplets were born, the Cavalier County Republican in Langdon put their photo on page 5. More on that below, and the whole story of the records is on the About page.
How Chad gets to your school
Nonstop flights from Boise Airport, then a rental car. Everything else is one connection, usually through Denver, Minneapolis or Chicago. Either way he arrives the day before.
| City | Flight from Boise | About |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago, IL | Nonstop to O’Hare or Midway | 3 hours 30 minutes in the air |
| Minneapolis, MN | Nonstop | 2 hours 45 minutes in the air |
| Milwaukee, WI | Nonstop to Chicago, then 90 minutes on I-94 | Half a day, door to door |
| Indianapolis, IN | One stop, or Chicago plus a 3-hour drive | 6 to 8 hours, door to door |
| Detroit, MI | One stop | 6 to 8 hours, door to door |
| Columbus, OH | One stop | 6 to 8 hours, door to door |
| Des Moines, IA | One stop | 6 to 8 hours, door to door |
| Kansas City, MO | One stop | 6 to 8 hours, door to door |
| St. Louis, MO | One stop | 6 to 8 hours, door to door |
| Omaha, NE | One stop, usually through Denver | 6 to 8 hours, door to door |
| Wichita, KS | One stop | 6 to 8 hours, door to door |
| Fargo, ND | One stop, usually through Minneapolis | 6 to 8 hours, door to door |
| Sioux Falls, SD | One stop | 6 to 8 hours, door to door |
Rounded from the Boise Airport route list and the airlines’ timetables. Flight schedules change by season, so Chad checks the real one before he quotes your date. Because he comes in the day before, the connection is his problem, not yours. Not on the list? Ask. If there’s a runway within a few hours of your school, he’ll figure it out.
What booking a Midwest school looks like
- Send your city and dates. Use the contact page or call (208) 391-2959. You’ll hear back within 48 hours with one number that already has the travel in it. No surprise line items later.
- A short survey, then a planning call. A few quick questions for whoever knows your students best, then a call with you and your counseling team about a week before the talk: what you want students walking out with, and anything going on at your school the talk should know about. Your counselors get the full outline before the day, and anything they want left out stays out.
- He flies in the day before. Nonstop into Chicago or Minneapolis, one connection to everywhere else, then a rental car and a hotel near your school. He’s in your building before the first bell, not texting from a gate in Denver.
- The talk, then the part that matters. The assembly fits your block. Student Q&A after, then time for students to come up and talk one on one. Your teachers get discussion questions and a worksheet for the next morning. Your students get the tools from the talk on a page of their own, and the paperwork is on the documents page.
- Two schools, one trip. Each additional school on the same trip pays $2,000 for one assembly, with no added travel. If the school across town or down the highway might want him the same week, tell them.
- Short notice is fine. If there’s a seat on a flight, he’ll be there. Ask before you assume a date’s gone.
State by state: where he goes and what ties him there
Every tie below is real. He’d rather tell you his grandparents left North Dakota in 1946 than pretend he’s a local.
Illinois
Chicago is a nonstop from Boise into O’Hare or Midway, about three and a half hours in the air, and FOX 32 Chicago ran the story when he set the half marathon record. From the airport, the suburbs are an hour, Rockford and the Fox Valley about 90 minutes, Peoria, Bloomington and Champaign under three hours, and Springfield about three and a half. A top youth speaker in Illinois can live in Idaho when the flight lands before dinner the night before.
Indiana
Northwest Indiana is closer to O’Hare than most of Illinois is: Gary, Hammond and Valparaiso within about an hour, South Bend and Elkhart about two. Fort Wayne and Indianapolis are a one-stop flight or a three-hour drive from Chicago. Either way he arrives the day before. Looking for a top youth speaker in Indiana? The flight board at O’Hare is the first thing he checks.
Iowa
Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cities are one-stop flights, usually through Denver, Minneapolis or Chicago, and Dubuque and Iowa City are about three hours from O’Hare. Sioux City sits an hour and a half from Omaha’s airport. That puts the whole state within half a day of Boise, with the night before built in.
Kansas
Kansas City and Wichita are one stop away, most often through Denver, Dallas or Minneapolis. Western Kansas, from Garden City to Goodland, is closer to Denver than to Kansas City, and Denver is a two-hour nonstop from Boise. A top youth speaker in Kansas who lives in Idaho sounds far until you look at where the flights go.
Michigan
FOX 2 Detroit ran the half marathon story in 2022. Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Flint are one-stop flights, usually through Chicago, Minneapolis or Denver. Southwest Michigan, from Kalamazoo to Benton Harbor, is about two hours from O’Hare by car. The Upper Peninsula is a drive from Green Bay or a one-stop into Marquette. The only question is which airport.
Minnesota
Minneapolis is a nonstop from Boise, under three hours in the air, and FOX 9 ran the story when he set the half marathon record. The Twin Cities and their suburbs are an easy morning. St. Cloud is about an hour from the airport, Rochester and Mankato about 90 minutes, and Duluth about two and a half. Brainerd, Bemidji and the Iron Range are a longer drive, and he’ll make it. For a top youth speaker in Minnesota, Boise is one flight away.
Missouri
Kansas City and St. Louis are both one-stop flights, usually through Denver, Chicago or Dallas, and St. Louis is also a short hop from Chicago. Columbia and Jefferson City sit between the two, about two hours from either airport. Springfield and the Ozarks are a one-stop flight or three hours from Kansas City. He flies in the day before and drives the rest.
Nebraska
Omaha and Lincoln are one stop from Boise, usually through Denver or Minneapolis, and the two cities are an hour apart on I-80. Grand Island and Kearney are one to two hours west of Lincoln on I-80. Scottsbluff and the Panhandle are closer to Denver, a three-hour drive from a two-hour nonstop. Whichever end of the state you’re on, he’s there the night before.
North Dakota
This is the state with family in it. Chad’s grandmother, Ida Mae, was born in Langdon in 1928, and his grandfather, Walter, came from Wales, a small town in the same county. They moved to California in 1946 and married there. Chad knew his great-grandmother, Mary Bergman, Ida Mae’s mother, until she died in 1993, when he was 11. When the quintuplets were born, the Cavalier County Republican put their photo on page 5 under the line “Former residents of Wales and Langdon have recently become the proud great-grandparents of quintuplets.” Fargo and Grand Forks are one-stop flights, usually through Minneapolis. Bismarck and Minot connect through Denver or Minneapolis. Langdon is about two hours from Grand Forks, and he’d make that drive for a gym full of students without being asked twice.
South Dakota
Sioux Falls is a one-stop flight, usually through Minneapolis, Denver or Chicago. Rapid City connects through Denver, and from there the Black Hills schools are close. Chad and his wife, Amy, have made the trip to Mount Rushmore, which is not a credential, but it does mean he knows the road out of Rapid City. Pierre, Aberdeen, Brookings and Mitchell are drives from one airport or the other. Same as everywhere else, he’s there the day before.
Ohio
NBC4 in Columbus ran the story when the quintuplets were born. Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo and Akron are all one-stop flights, usually through Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis or Dallas. Northern Kentucky is on the Cincinnati side of the river, and Toledo is about an hour from Detroit’s airport. For a top youth speaker in Ohio, he picks the airport closest to your school and lands the day before.
Wisconsin
FOX 6 Milwaukee ran the half marathon story in 2022. Milwaukee is about 90 minutes from O’Hare on I-94, Madison about two and a half hours, and Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh about three and a half, or a one-stop flight. Eau Claire and La Crosse are closer to Minneapolis, 90 minutes to two and a half hours from the airport. A top youth speaker in Wisconsin can arrive from either direction, and he comes the night before.
Credentials that hold up when a student Googles him
Because every student in every one of these states has a phone.
4
Guinness World Records titles
MA
Experimental Psychology, San Jose State
5 yrs
University Lecturer, San Jose State
20 yrs
Same San Mateo County Health department
Chad set all four records pushing his five kids, quintuplets born at 27 weeks, in a stroller: marathon 4:42:49 in Modesto, California; half marathon 2:19:55 in Oakland, California; 10K 1:04:52.9 in Garden City, Idaho; 1K 5:34 in Eagle, Idaho. Each time links to the official Guinness World Records listing, and every race he has run since 2002 is on the race log with its chip time. He is trained in QPR suicide prevention and completed psychological first aid training through San Mateo County Behavioral Health & Recovery Services. So your students get a guy with receipts who can also explain why their brain does what it does.
Chad’s full story → · The stories and the psychology behind them → · The full resume, what’s on LinkedIn → · Every news feature in one place → · Photos →
Four certificates. The times are in public race databases, and the records are on the Guinness World Records website, so a student can check him before the bell.
Three talks built for high schools, in any state
Anything Is Possible
The all-school assembly. Resilience, failure, and proof you can look up.
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The Weight You're Carrying
The mental health assembly your counselors have probably been asking for.
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I Walked the Hallways Alone
The anti-bullying and belonging talk that doesn’t wag a finger.
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Also available for: new-semester goal-setting assemblies · graduation and commencement · student leadership events · educator conferences
Midwest Rate
2026–27 School Year
$4,000
One assembly, travel included
$2,000
Each additional school, same trip
One number. The airfare, rental car and hotel from Boise are in it, and there are no other charges. No deposit. Chad flies in the day before, and you’re invoiced after the assembly, net 30. Each additional school on the same trip pays $2,000 for one assembly, with no added travel.
Booking several schools in one district? Ask for the district rate.
Check Your Date →Idaho schools: see the Local Introductory Rate. California: the California Introductory Rate. Oregon through Arizona: the Western States rate. The East Coast, the South, Hawaii and Alaska have their own pages.
Questions Midwest schools ask
Who is the top youth speaker in the Midwest?
Biased answer, obviously. But here’s the case: Chad Kempel set four Guinness World Records pushing his quintuplets in a stroller, holds an MA in Experimental Psychology from San Jose State University, taught there for five years, and taught math inside San Quentin State Prison for another five. His three talks were built for high school students, every claim in them is public record, and his grandparents came from Langdon and Wales, North Dakota, so the Midwest isn’t foreign ground.
Which states does this page cover?
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Idaho, California, the western states, the East Coast, the South, Hawaii and Alaska have their own pages. Anywhere else, ask. He speaks nationwide.
How much does it cost to book a youth speaker in the Midwest?
For the 2026–27 school year, one assembly at a Midwest high school is $4,000, all-inclusive. That covers the talk and the travel from Boise: airfare, rental car and hotel. There are no other charges and no deposit. Chad invoices after the assembly, net 30. A second school on the same trip pays $1,000 for one assembly, with no added travel. Send your school, city and dates through the contact page and you’ll hear back within 48 hours.
Does the price change if we’re far from an airport?
No. Rockford and Langdon get the same number as Chicago and Minneapolis. The rental car is already in it.
Does he fly in the day before?
Every time. A morning assembly shouldn’t depend on an early flight out of Boise going right. He lands the day before, so a delay or a storm is his problem, not yours. If weather closes your school, the date just moves. No charge.
Can two schools share one trip?
Yes, and it’s the best deal on this page. Each additional school on the same trip pays $2,000 for one assembly, with no added travel. If the school across town or down the highway might want him the same week, tell them.
Can we book several schools in our district at once?
Yes. Booking several schools in one district? Ask for the district rate. Send the schools, the dates you have in mind, and whether you want them the same day or the same week, and you’ll have one quote for all of them within 48 hours.
Is there a mental health speaker for high schools in the Midwest?
Yes. The Weight You’re Carrying is Chad’s mental health assembly. Students get four plain terms for what they’re feeling and a tool for each one. Chad is trained in QPR suicide prevention, follows safe-messaging guidelines for talking about suicide, and meets with your counseling team before he walks into the gym.
Do you have an anti-bullying speaker for schools in Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan?
I Walked the Hallways Alone is the anti-bullying and belonging talk. No lecture, no finger-wagging. It ends with one ask students can act on the next morning: sit down next to someone who looks like they’re alone.
Do you customize the talk for our school?
Every time. There’s a short survey first, then a call with you and your counseling team about a week out: your students, what you want them to walk out with, and anything going on at your school the talk should account for. Your counselors get the full outline and the take-home sheets and teacher guide before the day. The message stays the same. The delivery fits your room.
Our building is grades 7 to 12. Does that work?
The talks are built for grades 9 to 12. For a combined 7-12 or 6-12 building, ask. A shorter session for the younger grades is an option, and it’s part of the planning call.
Which day of the week works best?
Monday through Thursday, and not the last day before a break. Your teachers get discussion questions and a worksheet for the next morning, and those only work if there is a next morning.
Does Chad give keynotes for educator conferences in the Midwest?
Yes. He’s a keynote speaker based in Boise and opens or closes educator and association conferences anywhere in the Midwest.
How far out should we book?
As early as you can, especially for spring and graduation season. Five weeks or more is ideal: it keeps the airfare down, and since the airfare is in his price and not on your invoice, that’s his problem to manage. Still, ask before you assume a date’s gone.
Bring Chad to your school, wherever in the Midwest it is.
Discovery calls available · Replies within 48 hours · Based in Boise, one flight from the Midwest
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