When people think of Bronx Science, they immediately think of our scientific accomplishments. What they may not know is that Bronx Science also has students who are skilled in discussing ethical problems and competing in Ethics Bowl competitions. In Ethics Bowl, a moderator asks two teams a serious of questions on an ethical problem, and students’ responses are scored by a panel of judges. Our two superb Ethics Bowl teams are skilled in this practice, and they compete each year an annual regional High School Ethics Bowl competitions.

This year, Team 1 was composed of Anna Clevenger ’18, Gali Davar ’18, Christina Papageorgiou ’18, and Kashfia Zaman 18. Team 2 included Ally Friefeld ’18, Rachel Markowitz ’18, Batya Wiener ’18, Melina Asteriadis ’18, and Julia Haberfield ’19. Markowitz and Asteriadis were members of last years team who were the Regional Champions of 2017.

“Seeing the team grow from this year to last has been interesting. I have enjoyed the team a lot, and I love competing and learning more.” 

This year’s regional Ethics Bowl took place on Saturday January 27, 2018 at New York University. Clevenger’s team won the competition, and secured a spot at the National Ethics Bowl at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in April 2018. “We were the runner-ups my sophomore and junior year, so finally winning in my senior year was very rewarding,” Davar said. “It felt like all of our hard work finally paid off.”

“I have been on the team since I was a sophomore, and it has been really cool being able to work with the same people each year. By senior year, we become so close, that when we are in rounds, we can predict what people are going to do and say. Our team now has special signals for actions we can take during the rounds,” Clevenger said. “I am on both Debate and Ethics Bowl, and I can say that although they have their similarities, they are very different. The goal of Ethics Bowl is to further understanding of how you should act and of the ethics of the situations; it is not all about winning.”

Although Team 2 did not win at Regionals, they did receive the spirit award. “This was my second year competing, and it was so much fun once again. It’s really fun to craft an argument together, and it definitely prompted some very thought-provoking discussions,” Asteriadis said. “Seeing the team grow from this year to last has been interesting. I have enjoyed the team a lot, and I love competing and learning more,” Markowitz said.

As for what is to come for Ethics Bowl at Bronx Science, Team 1 is aiming to attend Nationals this year with Social Studies teacher Ms. Elena Shanbaum as their new faculty advisor. If you are interested in being a part of this amazing experience at Bronx Science, reach out to the current teams!