Socratico Speech&Debate Academy

🇨🇦 Socratico Summer Camp is coming to Vancouver this August!

This summer is especially exciting for us because, for the first time, our core coaching team will reunite in Vancouver for two weeks of intensive debate, public speaking, and writing training.

✈️ Flying in from Columbia:

🏆 Reese Johnson — 10-time U.S. National Champion & Finalist, TED-style speaking coach, and mentor to students who have won major national championships and earned full-ride scholarships.

✈️ Flying in from the USA:

🎓 Halima Badri — Harvard graduate, 5-time U.S. National Champion & Finalist, and writing coach whose students have gained admission to top universities including Harvard, Yale, and Northwestern.

🌎 Joining them in Vancouver:

🥇 Ivan Velentey — Founder of Socratico and international debate coach whose students have represented national teams and won championships at Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, NSDA Nationals, and major international tournaments worldwide.

Over two weeks, students will have the opportunity to develop:
✅ Public Speaking & Storytelling
✅ Debate & Critical Thinking
✅ Academic & College-Level Writing
✅ Confidence & Leadership Skills

Whether your child wants to become a stronger speaker, writer, debater, or future leader, this camp is designed to help them build skills that last far beyond the classroom.

📍 Vancouver
📅 Week 1: August 17–21
📅 Week 2: August 24–28
🎯 Incoming Grades 5–12

⚠️ To ensure personalized coaching, spaces are very limited.

We can’t wait to welcome our first Vancouver Summer Camp students this August!

What helps a student stand out?

Strong grades matter. But so does the ability to write clearly, communicate ideas with confidence, and tell their own story.

That’s why we’re excited to welcome Halima Badri as our Head of Socratico’s Writing Program 💙

Halima is a Harvard graduate who was admitted on a full-ride scholarship, a U.S. National Speech Champion, an experienced writing coach, and a former Harvard graduate-level Course Assistant.

Over the years, she has helped students strengthen their writing, develop their authentic voice, succeed in speech and debate competitions, and gain admission to top universities.

Her students describe her as the coach who helped them stop hiding behind “safe” writing and start communicating with confidence. Today, her former students include national champions, finalists at major competitions, and students at universities such as Harvard and Northwestern.

This summer, Halima will be leading four small-group writing programs:

✍️ College Admissions 101
📚 Creative Writing: Immersive Storytelling & Narrative-Building
🎯 Persuasive & Rhetorical Writing
🌎 English Lessons + TOEFL Prep

All classes are held virtually and limited to just six students to ensure personalized feedback and individual attention.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be introducing each course in more detail.

Please join us in welcoming Halima to the Socratico team! 💙

Many parents ask us the same question:

“How can I help my child become a more confident public speaker?”

We recently asked our Head of Public Speaking, Reese Johnson — a 10-time U.S. National Speech Champion and Finalist — to share her advice.

Here are the three habits Coach Reese believes every young speaker should build:

🎤 1. Start earlier than you think you need to

Public speaking is not something you can cram for the night before. Great speeches are built little by little, over time. Coach Reese recommends working on a speech every day — even if it’s just 20 minutes. One day, focus on memorization. The next, on vocal variety. Then work on gestures, eye contact, or delivery. Small daily practice is far more powerful than one long, stressful session right before a competition.

🎤 2. Study the people who already win

If your child’s goal is to excel in public speaking, learn from those who already have. Watch championship speeches online. Pay attention to how great speakers move, pause, use emotions, tell stories, and connect with their audience. The goal is not to copy someone else’s style. The goal is to understand what makes a speech memorable and then develop your own voice.
The fastest way to improve is to study excellence.

🎤 3. Practice exactly how you plan to perform

The body and mind learn through repetition and environment. If a student always practices sitting quietly in their bedroom, standing in front of judges or an audience can feel completely different. Practice standing up. Practice using gestures. Practice speaking loudly and confidently. Whenever possible, practice in front of family members, friends, or classmates. The more realistic the rehearsal, the more natural and confident the performance will feel.

💙 What comes next for your child?

Every Socratico champion started with one class, one speech, and one step outside their comfort zone.

Confidence isn’t something children are born with — it’s a skill that grows through practice.

📩 Interested in helping your child become a more confident communicator? Contact us to learn more about our Summer Public Speaking Programs and Competition Preparation Classes.

We are incredibly proud to celebrate several amazing Socratico students for their recent achievements in international and national public speaking competitions 💙

🏆 Madelyn Li became the 2026 Impromptu Speaking World Champion at the World Individual Debate and Public Speaking Championship in England after first earning her place through a highly competitive Team China selection process.

Impromptu speaking is one of the most difficult speaking events — students receive very limited preparation time and must quickly organize and deliver a speech that is clear, creative, persuasive, and engaging. Madelyn’s achievement reflects not only exceptional speaking skills, but also calm thinking under pressure and real confidence on stage.

🏆 Isabelle Appelwick was named Informative Speaking State Section Champion at the Minnesota State Championship — marking the first win in her school’s history in this category.

Informative speaking requires students to deeply research a topic, explain complex ideas clearly, and connect with an audience in an engaging way. Isabelle’s journey also shows how strong communication skills can support students far beyond competitions — this year, she was also admitted to Harvard University ✨

We also want to congratulate our junior students, Aurora Ni and Julie Cheng, for their outstanding results at the Copenhagen Public Speaking Championship 2026, competing against students across Asia online:

Aurora Ni
🥇 1st Place — Interpretive Reading
🥉 3rd Place — Persuasive Speaking

Julie Cheng
🥈 2nd Place — Impromptu Speaking
🌟 Finalist — Persuasive Speaking
🌟 Finalist — Interpretive Reading

We are especially grateful to our incredible public speaking coach Reese Johnson, whose mentorship, experience, and dedication continue to inspire our students to grow not only as speakers, but also as confident and thoughtful young leaders 💙

What makes us happiest is not only the awards, but seeing students develop the confidence to think independently, speak clearly, and express their ideas with courage.

So proud of all of you 💙

Can speech & debate really help students stand out in U.S. university admissions? 💭

We believe the answer is yes — not because debate or public speaking is a "shortcut" to top universities, but because these activities help students develop the kinds of skills that truly matter in life.

This year, we are incredibly proud to celebrate two Socratico students:

✨ Isabelle Appelwick — admitted to Harvard University, where she will study Environmental Science & Public Policy
✨ Sofya Kazintsev — admitted to Georgia Institute of Technology to pursue a STEM degree

Over four years, Isabelle immersed herself in multiple speech categories, developing confidence, resilience, and the ability to communicate thoughtfully across different perspectives. Her passion for communication, advocacy, and global issues ultimately aligned with her future studies in Environmental Science & Public Policy at Harvard.

Sofya focused heavily on chemistry research and STEM competitions while also competing in major debate and public speaking events, from Harvard WSDC to WIDPSC, which helped her learn how to explain complex ideas clearly, think critically under pressure, and present herself as a well-rounded applicant. As she prepares to pursue a STEM degree at Georgia Tech, her journey is a great example of how communication skills can strengthen even the most science-focused applications.

And honestly, this reflects something many top universities increasingly value today: not just academic excellence, but the ability to communicate ideas, engage thoughtfully with others, and express oneself with clarity and authenticity.

Speech & debate do not magically guarantee admission to top universities — no activity does.

But they can help students develop skills that last far beyond applications:
✔ critical thinking
✔ public speaking
✔ intellectual confidence
✔ leadership
✔ resilience under pressure
✔ meaningful storytelling
✔ the ability to communicate ideas that truly stand out

Most importantly, they help students discover and develop their own voice 💙

Vancouver Debate Showcase Day 💙

A few weeks ago, we hosted our Socratico British Parliamentary Showcase Debate.

Unlike our regular classes, this time students had the opportunity to debate in front of their parents — and even grandparents ✨

You could really feel that everyone took it extra seriously.

Before the debate began, we started with a fun warm-up activity inspired by Shark Tank, where students pitched their ideas to parents to see whose proposal would receive the most “investment” 😂

The atmosphere was incredibly fun, and the parents were fully engaged throughout.

The debate motion for the showcase was:

“This House Would Choose an Unconventional Career Path Over a College Degree.”

It turned out to be such an interesting topic to watch, especially because many families probably have similar conversations at home.

What impressed us most was seeing how confidently the students spoke in front of their families. In many ways, they performed even better than they usually do in class.

You could tell it genuinely mattered to them to make their parents proud.

Watching students confidently express their ideas, respond under pressure, and thoughtfully engage with opposing arguments was honestly far more meaningful than simply “winning” a debate 💙

Sometimes growth happens exactly in moments like these ✨

So proud of our Socratico students 💙

TOC Asia has been an incredible experience — and our team truly delivered. They kicked things off by winning all 4 rounds on Day 1, handling both prepared and impromptu motions with confidence, and went on to advance to the Octofinals in the Junior World Schools Debate division ✨

And the part we’re especially proud of — every single student received an Outstanding Speaker Award 💙

Even more exciting, this result also means they’ve qualified for the TOC Asia China Nationals this July 🇨🇳✨

Beyond the results, they showed great sportsmanship and real teamwork throughout — supporting each other, staying composed under pressure, and representing Socratico so well on and off the stage.

So well deserved. On to the next stage 🤞💙