When Ross Fitzpatrick came to Greenhill for the first time, it wasn’t as a teacher.
He was an assistant to the full-time debate coaches, helping prepare students for tournaments. He traveled with students, went to watch practice after school and helped students with their research.
At the end of the 2023-2024 school year, Upper and Middle School Debate teacher Allie Chase left to become Director of Debate at Pembroke Hill School, in Kansas City, Missouri. Chase’s departure created a faculty opening in the Greenhill debate program, and Fitzpatrick was hired.
“(Fitzpatrick) approaches things in a way that very much aligns with how I see debate,” said Upper and Middle School Debate and Communications teacher Aaron Timmons.
Since August, Fitzpatrick has been teaching Upper and Middle School debate on campus.
Fitzpatrick says he was eager to take this role. Debate students have also welcomed his arrival as a full-time member of the debate program. But his journey to Greenhill goes back even earlier, to when he was in high school and met Chase, his debate teacher.
Fitzpatrick went to a school that was very similar to Greenhill in Kansas City. He had a lot of debating experience, and he says that has impacted how he teaches.
He competed for four years in high school debate, and four years in college at the University of Kansas. After graduation, he moved to the Dallas area and began working with debate students at Greenhill and other schools.
From speaking to researching, Fitzpatrick gives crucial advice to students on how they should debate and why, according to Timmons.
“Whenever I have some questions, he easily answers [them]. He makes it seem like all questions are okay,” 7th grader Alia Gaitonde says.
Fitzpatrick engages with students, making the material fun to learn. He chooses topics that 7th and 8th graders talk about in normal and casual conversation. These topics include Heavy Metal or Hip-Hop, Spiderman or Jack-Jack, whether teachers should give less homework and similar themes.
“When I’m doing my debate homework, I’m like, ‘oh, yeah, this is good,’” 8th grader Nia Mehta said. “I think about what I’m doing instead of just researching and copying.”
