Meet Ronald Bratt of Capitol Debate in Carlsbad

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ronald Bratt.

Ronald, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was actively involved in competitive debate throughout my high school and college years, up until my graduation. It was during this time that I witnessed firsthand, not only the tremendous advantages from debate, but how my peers have prospered from this form of public speaking. At the time I started participating in debate, less than 10% of students had access to debate programs which left millions of students without this platform. I have devoted my life to developing debate skills in children because I have seen how it enhances intellectual growth. This was the genesis of my decision to start this company that would impact thousands of kids, internationally.

With this motivation in my early years, I started the Catholic University Debate program in 1998. In its first year, the program advanced to the finals of the American Debate Association. By 2001, the program had 30 members and was ranked number one in the National Debate Tournament rankings.

I also started Capitol Debate, America’s leading high school debate institute at Catholic University. The Institute drew over 200 students, from nearly 30 states. Its success is evident from the numerous national debate champions that have graduated from its halls.

We come from a place of passion. Debate is near to my heart. I was given an opportunity when I was younger to debate. From my experiences, I realized that I wanted to provide this opportunity to even more students.

In 2006, I decided to make an even bigger impact by founding Capitol Debate, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to promoting debate across the country. The program’s first mission was Howard County and it started with one debater. I grew this program to include over 100 students in the first two years, drawn from the 13 high schools and 19 middle schools in the county. In 2009, in a testament to our training methods, the Howard County debaters won the Middle School National Championships. They won it again in 2010 and 2011. That same year, the Howard County debaters also won the Freshman National Debate Championships. They consistently place in the top three at major national debate competitions.

In 2012, I established Capitol Debate as an independent LLC. This allowed us to grow the company, pushing it beyond the borders of Maryland and Virginia, into California, China, and Taiwan.

In the same year, we opened a western office in southern California and another academic camp at the University of San Diego. Given our success in the east, we wanted to make the same academic achievements available to students on the west coast.

When we first developed Capitol Debate, and started our academic summer camps in Maryland and Virginia, our primary goal was to enrich the social, intellectual, and academic lives of our students through the debating process, helping them to cultivate the public speaking and leadership skills that are so vital to later career success.

Our goal hasn’t changed. While our academic camps have grown to serve thousands and thousands of students, the core value has remained at the heart of all our programs and activities. With over 40 academic camps planned throughout the United States, Canada and Singapore, geographic expansion and adherence to our guiding principle have enabled us to enhance the lives of students across the world.

Our goal is to provide every single student access to debate through our programs, which is why we continue our expansion and have established our International Club Debate League.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge we had when we started was helping the parents understand the value and return on investment in giving students the opportunity to debate. Similar to other extracurricular activities, like piano lessons and competitive sports, a good rhetorical debate education comes at a cost.

When you start something new that people have not experienced before, you need to work on spreading an idea. You need to give more than you get back in order for people to understand what this is and what it could be.

Over the years, thousands of parents have seen our students prosper, succeed, and enrolling at Ivy League schools. It’s incredible how almost all of our new parents through word of mouth referrals, which shows how far we have come from our beginnings.

Please tell us about Capitol Debate.
Capitol Debate is a full-fledged public speaking and debate company. Our focus is running year-long Regional Club Debate Leagues and Summer Debate Camp programs, across the United States and beyond. We focus on helping students find their voice and building students’ core communication skills.

Our programs help in building students’ persuasive speaking and critical thinking skills, thus leading to better academic performance at school.

The curricula of our middle school debate camps aim to equip children with the ability to structure arguments, prepare debate cases, research evidence, write rebuttal briefs, deliver speeches and refute opponents. Our instructors work to prepare students to give outstanding speeches in class, perform in a class debate or join their high school debate teams, Model United Nations teams, or speech teams.

Not only will Capitol Debate students learn debating skills through our programs; they will feel an increase in self-worth, learn critical thinking skills and improve communication with their peers.

Many of our former students have gone on to participate in national debate tournaments and enroll in prestigious universities (UCLA, Stanford, USC, and Harvard to name a few).

We stand above the competition with our quality instruction, national circuit tournament rankings, and history of alumni success stories. This is because we focus on the whole person as an advocate for themselves by educating them about collaboration, grit, communication, and other valuable leadership qualities. We give students the skills that help them succeed in life and their careers. We deliver high quality instruction because we listen to our parents and their feedback about our programs.

Something that we are very proud of is the long-term impact on the students who come through our doors. We know that the students who go through our program will become leaders, movers, change-makers, and an inspiration to others. They turn out to be model citizens, not only locally, but globally. We are shaping the future of tomorrow by empowering the minds of today.

Who else deserves credit – have you had mentors, supporters, cheerleaders, advocates, clients or teammates that have played a big role in your success or the success of the business? If so – who are they and what role did they play / how did they help.
We get our inspiration and energy from all of the people we surround ourselves with, especially our employees, parents and students. Employees come through our programs and broaden our program with their education, experiences, and expertise. The students who unleash the power within them inspires us every day. The parents that let us know their needs keep us improving year after year. Our parents are a huge support to our success, especially for believing in the capacity of their children. They motivate and encourage their children. This helps the students propel forward. This helps us create an experience for a lifetime for all of those who are involved with Capitol Debate.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2100 Palomar Airport Rd, Suite #211
  Carlsbad, CA 92011
• Website: www.capitoldebate.com
• Phone: (800) 450 – 5012
• Email: team@capitoldebate.com

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