Debate

Greenhill Debate

Greenhill’s debate program is one of the most successful ones in the nation. The award-winning program includes a variety of courses and allows students to engage in different types of debate: Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, or World Schools Debate. Students are also able to vary their level of commitment based on their interest level and balance with other pursuits.

Middle School
Upper School

Middle School (7th – 8th Grade)

In Middle School, students learn the fundamentals of debate with courses focusing on development and demonstrating proficiency in research, refutation, best practices in constructing arguments, analyzing effective modes of persuasion, and group work necessary to succeed in debating. Seventh- and eighth-grade students can continue their debate with courses focusing on quick-paced examinations and formal competition.

Skills Developed: Public speaking, basic tenets of the structure of an effective argument, efficient research techniques, and how to present an argument and respond successfully.

Upper School (9th – 12th Grade)

In Upper School, students sharpen their public speaking and critical thinking skills while exploring the different styles of debate. They build on the skills they acquired in Middle School while learning portable skills such as best practices in public speaking and critical thinking; developing, defending, and responding to well-reasoned arguments; enhanced research skills; and collaboration and teamwork.

Skills Developed: Advanced public speaking techniques, critical thinking and research skills, effective writing of arguments, enhancing delivery techniques, collaboration, and teamwork.

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Over the past three decades, the Greenhill Debate Team has amassed a level of success on the state, regional, and national levels that is virtually unparalleled.

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Greenhill Debate students are regularly selected to join the USA Debate Team to represent the nation in international competitions.

Benefits of Debate

AARON TIMMONS, DIRECTOR OF DEBATE

"Learning how to speak is fundamental to a Greenhill education. If our graduates can learn to organize their thoughts and effectively articulate them, we are providing them with an essential life skill that will pave the way toward future success. One of our goals at Greenhill is that we want our students to be incredibly well-rounded. Public speaking is a key piece of that package."

Contact our Director of Debate to learn more about the program.

Contact aaron timmons

Meet the Coaches

Aaron Timmons, Jr.
Director of Debate

Aaron Timmons, Jr.

Director of Debate
(972) 628-5606 | timmonsa@greenhill.org

A veteran educator, and Greenhill Faculty Leader, Aaron Timmons, Jr. has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Speech & Debate Association, The Tournament of Champions, and the Texas Forensic Association. In 2000, he was listed as one of the top coaches of the 20th century by the National Speech & Debate Association. Timmons has published several educational publications and is a frequent presenter of workshops on debate pedagogy both domestically and internationally. In 2013, Timmons was chosen as a Coach of the National Speech & Debate Association's version of the Olympic team for high school debate, the USA Debate Team. In the summer of 2023, Timmons was the Co-Head Coach of the USA Team that won the World Championship.

A former National Debate Coaches Association Educator of the Year, Timmons is one of only three coaches in the history of the National Speech & Debate Association to win National Championships in policy debate and Lincoln Douglas Debate. He is the only coach to have multiple champions in both divisions, and in 2020, coached an NSDA World Schools Champion, and Poetry Interpretation Champion as well. Timmons has served in a variety of leadership positions including stints on the Board of the National Debate Coaches Association and the Texas Forensic Association. Under his direction, Greenhill students have also won National titles at the National Debate Coaches Association Championships, the Tournament of Champions, and the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions. No other school in the State of Texas has more Texas Forensic Association State Debate Champions than Greenhill School!

Rodrigo Paramo
MS/US Debate Coach

Rodrigo Paramo

MS/US Debate Coach
(972) 628-5411 | paramor@greenhill.org

Rodrigo Paramo has been coaching high school debate for over a decade and joined the Greenhill coaching staff as a full-time classroom teacher in 2022. In his time as a coach, Rodrigo has coached multiple state champions in Lincoln-Douglas debate, and his students have consistently championed or competed in late elimination rounds at major high school debate tournaments. In his first year working with the Greenhill debate team, one of his students won the Dukes & Bailey Cup for Season-Long Excellence, awarded to the highest-performing high school debater over the course of a debate season. Rodrigo believes deeply in the power of debate to challenge the way students think about the world, inculcate critical thinking skills that extend far past any individual debate round, and to build life-long friendships.

Ross Fitzpatrick
MS/US Debate Teacher

Ross Fitzpatrick

MS/US Debate Teacher
(972) 628-5604 | fitzpatrickr@greenhill.org

Ross Fitzpatrick competed at The Barstow School in Kansas City, Missouri, and the University of Kansas as a member of their policy debate teams. As a senior at KU, he finished his career as a semi-finalist at the National Debate Tournament alongside partner Azja Butler. In 2021, he graduated with degrees in English and political science. Ross has coached for several programs in the Kansas City area and was most recently an assistant coach at Greenhill and the University of Southern California before stepping into the full-time role this year. He firmly believes in debate’s ability to create lifelong partnerships among peers, expand student’s intellectual horizons, and teach the skills necessary to confront the urgent social and political issues of our times.

Arts News from Greenhill

Student’s Play Brought to Life in PUP Fest

Congratulations to Antonio Velazquez ’26 for having his play selected as part of the Playwrights Under Progress (PUP) Fest.
AVP Film Screened at International Film Festival

Congratulations to Davis Knocke ’26 and Syrus Gupta ’26 for having Seventh Heaven screened at the Seattle International Film Festival.
Woodwind Choir Makes Concert Debut

Congratulations to Greenhill’s Woodwind Choir for presenting their first concert of their own on May 14.
Students Photography Recognized in Contests

Congratulations to our Middle and Upper School photography students who received recognition this spring.