Students from Veritas Schools, a Dunwoody-based Saturday program, won their eighth consecutive summer debate championship at the Harvard Debate Council Summer Workshops in Cambridge, Massachusetts, beating competitors from 25 countries, WSB-TV reported Wednesday, July 15.

When the team landed back in Atlanta, parents had organized a surprise welcome at the airport. Lillian Rodriguez, a Veritas student and semifinalist in the competition, described walking through the terminal to cheering families.

"To be able to walk through and to feel just the sense of people and all the cheering, it was, like, I almost cried," Rodriguez told WSB-TV reporter Sophia Choi. "It was just so amazing."

Rodriguez and her debate partner, Evan Linton, reached the semifinals. Other members of the Veritas team took the championship title outright.

Linton said he never doubted the outcome. He told WSB-TV he had complete faith the team would bring home an eighth title.

Tameka Thomas, the school's chief operating officer, said Veritas had nothing to do with the airport celebration. The parents organized it entirely on their own.

A Saturday school with no shortcuts

Veritas operates as a nonprofit Saturday school, running its flagship Debate Institute for students in grades 8 through 12. Scholars attend class every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., August through June, studying college-level philosophy, political science, sociology, rhetoric, and debate. The year culminates in a two-week residential intensive at Harvard.

Thomas told WSB-TV that most students arrive with zero debate experience. They get their Saturday sessions, two weeks of summer intensives, and then compete on the world stage.

Full tuition runs $14,800, according to the Veritas website, but the program guarantees financial aid to all families who demonstrate need.

Building beyond Atlanta

Educator Brandon P. Fleming founded Veritas in 2017 on Harvard's campus. The program has since expanded to Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, with Chicago next. The school says it has served more than 300 Atlanta students across its eight years of operation.

Enrollment information is available at theveritasschools.org. The program also serves younger students in grades 5 through 7 through its Veritas Preparatory Program.

More in Dunwoody and Brookhaven this week

  • Find a Fossil & Win a Prize! — Thursday, July 16, 10 a.m., Dunwoody Library
  • Dunwoody Open — Thursday, July 16, 10 a.m., Treetop Quest Dunwoody Adventure Park
  • Science Guys of Atlanta — Thursday, July 16, 11 a.m., Brookhaven Branch Library
  • Saturday Sketching with Sharon — Saturday, July 18, 2 p.m., Dunwoody Library