Coaching Students to Their Highest Debating Potential
https://www.virginiadebate.com/
2025 SUMMER CLASSES
Virginia Debate Academy is excited to open registration for our summer debate camp!
Camp Location: 3460 Centreville Road, Chantilly, VA 20151
Posted: 01/28/2025
Virginia Debate Academy is Open for Registration!
Unlock your child’s potential this summer with a program that builds confidence, critical thinking, and leadership skills!
Why Choose VDA?
Students participate in games, lectures, mock debates, workshops, and other public speaking activities to learn and practice competitive debate. Debaters master these core skills:
Argumentation
Critical Thinking
Collaboration
Communication
Public Speaking
Research
Our Track Record of Success:
– VDA students have championed WACFL Metro Finals, the Virginia High School League State Tournament, the Middle School National Championship, and achieved success at national invitational tournaments.
– Our debaters thrive as team leaders and gain admission to top colleges like Duke, Harvard, Princeton, UVA, W&M, and more!
– VDA’s curriculum is developed by accomplished instructors with over a decade of coaching experience, who have collectively won 7 Virginia State Championships and excelled at national tournaments. They also apply their professional background in public policy, law, and research to the curriculum and classroom, ensuring students gain real-world insights.
Registration Open: 2025 SUMMER CLASSES
Camp Location: 3460 Centreville Road, Chantilly, VA 20151
Located in Chantilly, Va, our camps teach students research, critical thinking, public speaking, case construction, and other techniques necessary to excel in competitive debate and public speaking. VDA’s low teacher-student ratio provides students ample time and resources to improve their craft and find their voice!
Introduction to Competitive Debate: Middle School
Grades: 6-8
Experience: 0-2 years
July 14 – July 18
9 AM – 3 PM
Spots: Open
Students will participate in lectures, games, workshops, and debates to learn case construction, rebuttal, framework, and crossfire techniques. Debaters will research unique and challenging topics that are debated on the competitive circuit. High performing students are welcomed to take the advanced course after completing this class. Please review the curriculum page for the class schedule.
Class tuition: $600
Introduction to Competitive Debate: High School
Grades: 9-12
Experience: 0-2 Years
July 21 – July 25
9 AM – 3 PM
Spots: Open
Debaters will participate in Socratic seminars, workshops, and debates to hone their research, speaking, and debate capabilities. Our unique curriculum—covering traditional and progressive styles—will provide debaters with the critical thinking skills, research ability, and institutional knowledge to excel in local, state, and national circuit. Please review the curriculum page for the class schedule.
Class tuition: $600
Private Coaching
All Grades and Experience
For students that cannot attend camp dates or are looking for coaching during the season, private tutor sessions are available. Tutor schedules are flexible.
Curriculum
Virginia Debate Academy’s teaching team is composed of 7x Virginia State Champions that are dedicated to creating similar success for their students. Our instructors have success on the local, state, and national circuit in their respective debating and coaching careers. Current and former VDA teachers hold degrees from or are studying fields pertinent to competitive debate at top colleges. Our unique curriculum was developed by coaches who have experience or are career professionals at elite consulting and public policy firms.
At VDA, we understand how impactful speech and debate can be in a student’s academic and professional life. Our curriculum is designed to equip students with core skills they can use in their personal and later professional lives, even if they do not pursue a competitive team at their respective institution.
During camp, students participate in lectures, workshops, Socratic seminars, games, mock debates, and other public speaking activities to learn and practice competitive debate. They research and present on different topics, including past and present resolutions debated on the competitive circuit. Our low teacher-student ratio provides students ample time and resources to learn and practice the material. Students receive individualized feedback from instructors on their work, in addition to their classmates’ responses.
Introduction to Competitive Debate Schedule
Day 1
Introduction to Competitive Debate
Constructing a Debate Case
Fundamentals of Research/Cards
Resolution
Position Paper Topic Selection
Day 2
Fundamentals of the Rebuttal Speech
Weighing/Metaweighing
Crossfire
Position Paper Presentation
Judge Adaptation
Day 3
Strategizing the Second Half of the Debate
Fundamentals of Public Speaking
Mock Debate
Debate Preparation
Day 4
Review
Evidence Comparison
Round Strategy
Debate Preparation
Day 5
Debate tournament
Advanced Debate Schedule
Day 1
Advanced Casing
- Building a narrative
- Toulmin model of argumentation
Round Strategy
Statistics in Debate
- Post hoc errors
Resolution
Day 2
Advanced Weighing
- Metaweighing
Advanced Summary/final focus
Strategizing The Rebuttal and Logical Rebuttals
Debate Preparation
Day 3
Judge adaptation/judge Psychology
Philosophical Concepts in Debate
Public Speaking – speaking fast, well
Debate Preparation
Day 4
Review
Kritiks in Debate
Crossfire Revisited
Debate Preparation
Day 5
Debate Tournament
Middle School Students:
Since 2015, VDA has worked with a number of middle schools—including Rachel Carson Middle School and Nysmith School for the Gifted—in the northern Virginia area. VDA instructors have worked closely with coaches, parents, and students to improve local debate programs, including establishing a program at Franklin Middle School. In addition to students attending our summer and winter camps and receiving private coaching, we have conducted mock tournaments, team coaching, case review, and provided input on team selection. Our students have won the Middle School National Championship and gone on to captain their High School debate teams. VDA’s continued work in the region helps us prepare middle school students for their competitive team tryouts and circuit.
Middle school and introductory courses cover all of the fundamentals of competitive debate, including public speaking, topic analysis, argumentation, research, critical thinking, and more. VDA students are introduced to basic research skills and source analysis. During our writing sessions, students have the opportunity to practice source integration, argumentative writing, in addition to practicing the many other areas covered in class.
Parliamentary and public forum formats are used for mock debates, the most common formats on the competitive circuit. VDA students work with high school topics, allowing them to explore important and challenging topics and issues. Through mock and impromptu debates, extemporaneous speaking activities, evidence and crossfire workshops, students will have the opportunity to research a variety of topics of their interest.
High School Students:
VDA has conducted similar work with high schools in the state. Students from successful programs—Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Oakton High School, Chantilly High School, Broad Run High School, Walt Whitman High School, and more—regularly attend or receive private coaching at VDA. Like our instructors, these students bring a breadth of experience on the local, state, and national circuit that improves the learning environment for the class. VDA has also taught coaches in the northern Virginia region, and our instructors have run debate teams at local schools. Such experience gives VDA faculty special insight into the competitive circuit on the local, state, and national circuit.
Our high school course covers all of the fundamentals of debate, including public speaking, effective questioning and note-taking, critical thinking, research, and more. Students will research interesting topic areas related to debate, develop position papers and speeches on challenging moral and policy questions, and complete multiple mock debates throughout the week. Students will also be introduced to both traditional and progressive debate styles.
Students in our varsity courses will build on their knowledge in the aforementioned areas and experience on the competitive circuit to hone their skills. VDA’s advanced courses dive deeper into specific forms of argumentation, speaking and case-writing techniques, research, and critical thinking activities to help students succeed on the local, state, and national circuit. VDA uniquely provides students the opportunity to learn from teachers that have professional experience in public speaking and public policy.
VDA participants often have national circuit and debate camp experience. Our students speak about their experiences at other national camps and tournaments, enriching the learning environment.
VDA alumni have championed Varsity and Junior Varsity WACFL Metrofinals, the Virginia State Championship tournament, the Middle School National championship, and reached outrounds at top national invitational tournaments.
Virginia Debate Academy
OUR VISION
Based in Fairfax, Virginia Debate Academy was founded in 2015 and has worked with over 300 students and coaches from over fifty-five schools in Virginia, including selective magnet high schools and nationally-ranked middle schools.
VDA is dedicated to providing a quality debate education to students of all backgrounds. We believe all students should have the opportunity to explore important topics, develop their critical thinking, find their inner voice, and have fun.
Directors & Instructors
Jonah Williams
Jonah Williams co-founded the Virginia Debate Academy with Benjamin Fisher in 2015. Jonah earned his B.A. in Political Science from the College of William & Mary in 2018.
Jonah has taught over fifty courses on public speaking, argumentation, research, and critical thinking during the past decade, along with coaching numerous students during the debate season. His students have won awards at all three national tournaments and multiple national invitationals and have championed WACFL Metrofinals and the Virginia State Championship tournament. When he was the coach of the Chantilly High School Debate Team, the team won over 15 trophies in one year. He has built or reinvigorated four debate programs in Northern Virginia and frequently consults with local debate programs. Jonah has overseen VDA fundraising programs for local debate teams and led seminars for multiple non-profits.
As a competitor, Jonah won the Arlington Diocese once and earned two semifinal bids at WACFL Metrofinals. On the state circuit, Jonah won numerous district titles, one regional championship, and the State tournament in 2013. On the national circuit, Jonah qualified for nationals three times, where he placed in the top 32 when he was a sophomore and reached semifinals at two national invitationals.
Ben Fisher
Ben Fisher co-founded the Virginia Debate Academy with Jonah Williams in 2015. Ben has a B.A. in East Asian Studies from the University of Virginia and currently works as a research specialist for the Gartner Business Newsdesk.
He has been coaching students for eight years at local schools, including being the coach of Rachel Carson’s debate team which placed 1st and 3rd at Nationals and being the principle consultant for Freedom High School’s debate program. He was an instructor at numerous camps over the years, teaching hundreds of students ranging from 5th to 12th grade. He was the head captain for Chantilly High School’s back-to-back state championship team.
As a debater, he was ranked the best debater in Virginia three years straight by the National Speech and Debate Association. Ben placed 3rd at three national invitational tournaments, and competed in elimination rounds at numerous other national invitationals. In the WACFL circuit, Ben remained undefeated in Public Forum for two years and qualified for Varsity Metro Finals in Public Forum, Lincoln Douglas, and Student Congress. Ben placed in Impromptu and Extemporaneous forensics events at regional level VHSL tournaments, where his speech team won sweepstakes four years in a row.
Instructors
Jennifer Cheung
Jennifer Cheung received her B.S.Ed. from the University of Virginia in 2022, and she has been teaching upper elementary school students in Fairfax County for the past three years. She also works closely with secondary school students to develop their writing and critical thinking skills, focusing on crafting compelling arguments and mastering the writing process—key components of success in debate and academic pursuits. Through her mentorship, she helps students refine their research, analysis, and communication abilities while preparing for higher education. Jennifer draws on her experience as an educator and tutor to help VDA create a dynamic and engaging classroom environment during summer debate camps, enabling students to build confidence and achieve measurable growth in their skills. As the varsity captain of her high school policy debate team, Jennifer achieved success at both the local and state levels.
Our Services
CAMPS
VDA camps consist of lectures, workshops, Socratic seminars, and games that teach students the skills necessary to excel in competitive debate. Our unique curriculum fosters students’ critical thinking, argumentation, and public speaking skills.
SCHOOL COACHING
Virginia Debate Academy has extensive experience with middle school debate, coaching Rachel Carson Middle School to first place overall at Urban Debate Nationals in 2015. Coaching includes lectures on advanced debate techniques, judging for mock debates, case review, and topic analysis. We can also help your school establish a team.
CASE REVIEW
We critique cases provided to us to improve overall quality. Critiques focus on argumentative strategy, evidence strength, and rhetorical impact.
PRIVATE COACHING
Want to work one-on-one with a VDA teacher? Our instructors are available for personal coaching sessions upon contact. Please contact us if interested.
Last update: 01/28/2025
