April 25, 2009
The competition used cases from past National Collegiate Ethics Bowls that had been adapted for high school students. The schools had been working on the cases for two months before the competition. Each team was organized as a club at the school, and the coach was the sponsor of the club. This way the students could meet during the time any club would meet, and the coaches could receive a small stipend. The actual event was treated like any other field trip a club might take.
Each school was offered coaching help by St. Petersburg College faculty who have coached the Collegiate Ethics Bowl team. Eight schools took advantage of the offer, including the winning teams.
The competition consisted of 3 preliminary rounds in the morning, and a semi final and finals in the afternoon. All the competitions were hard fought, and the adult observers, many of them parents of the competitors, were greatly impressed by the depth and thoroughness of the arguments. The schools that competed all vowed to be back next year.
The finals were held in the main Digitorium of the Seminole Campus of St. Petersburg College before a crowd of over 100 participants, observers, school system personnel, college professors, relatives, and volunteers. In an amazing and thrilling competition, both St. Petersburg High and Clearwater High tied for First Place. Since this had not happened before, the officials had to consult the rules, which stated that in the case of a tie in the finals, both teams would be declared co-winners. They both received First Place trophies, though a flip of the coin meant that Clearwater High had to wait a week for the second trophy to be made!
The coaches reported that all the team members demonstrated dramatic growth over weeks of preparation for the competition in critical thinking and ethical understanding, which was our ultimate goal. This year we are attempting to recruit 4 more teams, which should be easy given the high profile of last year's competition.
In May 2009 Loyola Blakefield (Towson, Maryland) won the 2nd annual Baltimore High School Ethics Bowl, hosted by the Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics at the University of Baltimore.
P. O. Box 1030