Ethics Bowl Competition 2024
This January, the OHS’s Ethics Bowl Club came together for the Northern California High School Ethics Bowl in Santa Cruz. Ethics Bowl is a team-based competition centered around debating complex ethical issues, with topics ranging from cheating to social media. At OHS, the Ethics Bowl Club meets nearly every week on Fridays. The teams, which consist of seven people, also have additional meetings. This year, they met every day during winter break for an hour or two to prepare for the tournament. During a typical meeting, the teams will review the case studies that will show up at the competition. Usually, they read a case and discuss it in breakouts, then have a team give a presentation (if time permits).
In terms of participation, OHS has two teams—one that mainly consists of seniors and another with mostly juniors and sophomores. Whether it be driving a couple of hours or flying from the East Coast, the teams’ dedication to attend the tournament was admirable. The Ethics Bowl Club is mentored by Dr. Beals, Dr. Drogalis, and Dr. Wallhagen, and Dr. Beals was able to attend this competition. For this tournament, OHS students who weren’t part of the Ethics Bowl Club Came out to spectate and support their peers as well! To start off their day, the team met in the morning for their first three preliminary rounds. Then, they had lunch together before their next three elimination rounds. Both OHS teams made it to playoffs, and they competed against each other in the semifinals—something that hasn’t happened before.
The rounds operate by starting with two teams, a moderator, and two to three judges. By flipping a coin, one team is able to pick if they want to go first or second. The moderator then presents the case and writes a question about it. The first team has two minutes to prepare a five-minute presentation on that question. Next, the second team has two minutes to confer to respond to the first team in a three-minute commentary. Again, the first team has two minutes to prepare their response to that commentary and delivers it within three minutes. The judges have one minute to confer, then ask questions to each team for ten minutes.
Despite losing in finals, Nathan Bowman (‘25), a member of one of OHS’s Ethics Bowl teams, attests that the experience was still valuable. He gratefully adds that, in comparison to meeting online, “It’s a lot more fun; you feel a lot more connected to people. It’s nice to be around people in person, I think it makes discussing easier both in competition and preparing.” Though Nathan was familiar with his teammates before the competition, the competition provided a chance to strengthen those connections—as he states, “Working with them was definitely great to get to know them better.”
From this sometimes stressful and challenging experience, Nathan shares a few pieces of advice. He optimistically explains, “There were some nervous moments, especially waiting for scores. Just do your best, prepare, and try to enjoy it.” Lastly, Nathan reminds us that “Collaboration was definitely a theme the Ethics Bowl organization wanted to focus on. Whether it’s on your team or with the other team, I think that’s a really important lesson.” To summarize, the Ethics Bowl competition this January epitomized the dedication and collaborative spirit of the OHS community, acting as a testament to their teamwork. Let’s congratulate the OHS Ethics Bowl Club for their amazing work!