Launch Your Debate Journey This Summer

Overview: The Ascend Middle School In-Person Summer Program is a transformative in-person debate experience built for curious, driven students ready to accelerate their communication and critical thinking skills. Across focused daily sessions, students receive live expert coaching, rapid skill-building drills, and real practice rounds designed to prepare them for competitive success and confident leadership. Whether new to debate or already competing, Ascend blends structured instruction with strategic application so students leave sharper thinkers, persuasive speakers, and ready to excel in both school and beyond.

Logistics:

  • Duration: We offer 2 and 1 week programs. Two-week residential is recommended!

  • Location and Dates:

    • Ascend Florida: June 27-July 10 (2 Weeks) and June 27-July 3 (1 Week)

    • Ascend California: July 12-July 26 (2 Weeks) and July 12-July 19 (1 Week)

  • Format: In-Person, Residential and Commuter! We also offer an Online Summer Program

  • Price: $3,599.99 for 2 Week Residential, $2,599.99 for 2 Week Commuter and 1 Week Residential, and $2,199.99 for 1 week Commuter

Group of six diverse students smiling and posing for a photo in a classroom with a whiteboard and brick wall.
Register for This Summer!
A smiling man in a gray suit with a white shirt, standing in front of a colorful wall with multiple compartments filled with various colored sticky notes.

“Everyone who gets into Harvard, Stanford, and Yale has a ‘spike.’ Let’s start building your spike this summer.”

— Varun Kota, Stanford MBA and Director of Middle School Debate

Harvard, Stanford, and Yale university logos side by side.

Inside the Ascend Middle School Summer Experience

  • A classroom scene with a woman in a white tank top and gray sweatpants speaking to a man in a black shirt, sitting at desks, with two other students in the background.

    Live Expert Coaching

    Small groups with action oriented feedback every day

  • A classroom filled with students working at desks. The students are focused on their work with various items like laptops, notebooks, and writing materials on their desks.

    Accelerated Skill Building

    Focused training designed for rapid improvement

  • Group of diverse teens sitting in a classroom, smiling and engaging in a lively discussion.

    Real Competitive Preparation

    Practice rounds, strategy, and performance mentoring

A classroom full of students sitting at desks, using laptops and tablets, facing forward and attentively listening.

Is Ascend Right for Your Child?

Our program is designed for motivated students excited to accelerate their college admissions journey and build transformative life skills through debate.

  • No experience is required. Our summer program is designed for both beginners and experienced debaters. New students learn the fundamentals of argumentation, speaking, and strategy, while experienced students are grouped by level and challenged with advanced skills, real practice rounds, and higher-level strategy.

  • Each day includes live skill workshops, guided practice drills, speaking modules, and personalized feedback from coaches, followed by mock debates or strategy challenges to apply what students learn in real time. Check out the sample schedule below.

  • Ascend coaches are nationally accomplished debaters with years of competitive and teaching experience. Students work directly with expert instructors who have competed at the highest levels and know how to accelerate improvement.

Five students gathered around a laptop in a classroom, looking at the screen with interest.

Sample Schedule (PT)

  • 8:00–9:00am | Breakfast & Informal Check-In.

  • 9:00–10:30am | Mock Round 1. Full simulated debate rounds under tournament conditions to assess speaking performance.

  • 10:30am–12:30pm | Skill Workshops (Core Debate Concepts). Deep dives into argument construction and refutation strategy.

  • 12:30–1:30pm | Lunch & Reset.

  • 1:30–3:00pm | Strategy & Drills Lab. Coach-led drills focused on strategy execution, adaptation, clash, and real-time decision making.

  • 3:00–5:00pm | One-on-Ones & Topic Lectures. Personalized coaching sessions alongside targeted topic lectures.

    5:00–6:00pm | Mock Round 2. Second set of live practice rounds emphasizing improvement, adaptation, and applying feedback.

  • 6:00–7:00pm | Dinner.

  • 7:00–9:00pm | Office Hours & Individual Support. Open coaching time for personalized questions and goal setting.

    Subject to change: Fun activities and other special Ascend events can change the schedule on any given day.