The Ethics Bowl team swept the competition Jan. 25, with its three separate sub-teams placing first, second and third. Team Orange took first place, which advanced the team to divisional playoffs.
Ethics Bowl competitions have two teams in a match, where one is asked a question relating to one of the cases. These cases are presented in a selection of moral dilemmas at the start of each season.
Following the question, the first team makes a presentation on their moral stance for the situation, to which the other team then responds. Three judges ask both teams questions to further develop their stance, and whichever team can explore the question with more nuance wins.
The teams worked outside their official practices to discuss the moral dilemmas at hand.
Sophomore Owen Zuercher found these unofficial practices useful to further work on things the team struggles with.
“It helped us to articulate our thoughts about some of the questions [we struggled] with during practice,” he said.
Sophomore Josh Koester, the youngest member on Team Orange, mentally prepared himself leading up to the competition.
“My preparation was not letting myself get super worked up, sleeping well and eating healthy stuff throughout the day for the sake of cognitive function,” Koester said.
Freshman Vivian Schroeder kept her skills sharp with practices at home.
“I spent extra time reading through cases and identifying certain things that I struggled with,” Schroeder said.
The ability to think critically is imperative during competition. The Edwardsville teams managed to stand out with their well-reasoned arguments and collaborative approach.
Although Team Orange is riding high off their win, they show no signs of slowing down. They are continuing to prepare for the next competition with hopes of advancing to nationals this year.
“I have a lot of confidence in the people on my team, and I know they are going to knock it out of the park,” Koester said. “I know If we genuinely put our best foot forward there may not be a team in the country that can stop us.”