Six grade 12 students from Warren Collegiate Institute (WCI) recently competed in the Manitoba High School Ethics Bowl at the University of Manitoba on Feb. 21 and 22.
The Ethics Bowl allows students from across the province to engage in discussions, analyze, and debate various ethical dilemmas. The team from WCI included Charlie Huard, River O’Dell, Abi Kaplar, Reese Hnatuk, Elliot Dowd, and Colby Darragh, under the mentorship of teacher Amanda Dion.
Competing against 19 other teams, WCI tackled topics related to social and political issues. Students needed to demonstrate strong critical thinking, communication, and active listening skills to succeed in the event.
During each round, WCI faced off against another team. Both teams were presented with an ethical question, then had five minutes to collaboratively develop a response. Afterward, the opposing team had three minutes to ask questions, to which the first team could respond.
A panel of judges observed the discussions and posed additional questions before determining the winner of each round.
“It’s all about respecting other viewpoints and generating a positive atmosphere where youth can have meaningful discussions with each other about current issues that are affecting the world,” said Dion.
Judges scored the teams based on their initial responses and their ability to ask and answer critical questions. The team with the highest score in each round was declared the winner.
The Manitoba High School Ethics Bowl was a two-part event: qualifiers took place on the first day, followed by semi-finals on the second day. WCI advanced to the semi-finals after winning two of their three qualifying rounds. In the semi-finals, they won their first head-to-head battle, securing a spot at the national competition.
Team members Reese Hnatuk and Elliot Dowd are both excited about the opportunity to compete at nationals, which will be held at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on April 25 and 26.
Both of the students said that their team will begin studying more often as they prepare to compete at nationals.
“I am most looking forward to competing at the highest level possible with many insightful individuals,” said Hnatuk, adding in that “We will work just as hard as we did and have faith in one another.”
Only one other team, Kelvin High School, from Manitoba qualified to nationals, so qualifying amongst the best of the best is substantial for WCI.
“The opportunity to speak about issues that matter in the world is what I enjoy most about Ethics Bowl,” explained Dowd. He noted that his favourite topic of the qualifier weekend was about lowering the age to vote.
Both Hnatuk and Dowd are extremely proud of how they and their team members did at qualifiers, and are looking forward to seeing how they do at nationals.
