Ethics Bowl Team Makes History

Congrats and good luck to the members of the Penn Charter Ethics Bowl team: seniors Justin Cockerham, Davina Kennedy, Ella Parke, Harrison Signorelo, Brooklyn Trevisan and Grace-Jordan Weinstein, and juniors Adelia Wallace and Alexandra Will!

Following its first-ever Delaware Valley Regional Competition championship on February 4, the team will take on George Washington Carver High School for Engineering and Science in the Divisional Playoffs on February 21 at 6:30 p.m. The winner of this virtual divisional match earns a trip to Nationals, taking place in-person at the University of North Carolina from March 31 to April 2.

The Penn Charter squad is among eight teams to have reached the divisional round from Pennsylvania and seven other states. The other schools in Penn Charter's division are: Archimedean Upper Conservatory (FL); East Greenwich High School (RI); Walnut Hills High School (OH); Arlington High School (NY); Medford High School (MA); Bryn Mawr School (MD); George Washington Carver High School for Engineering and Science (PA); and Phillips Exeter Academy (NH).

Students who have expressed a genuine interest in philosophy and ethics are invited to learn more about and, if interested, join the Ethics Bowl team at the end of their sophomore year. Teacher Ed Marks, who founded the team in 2015, advises the students with help from teachers Michael LoStracco and Robert Vierlinck. 

Since the beginning of the year, the students have been honing their skills during group meetings each Friday over lunch or after school. The team discusses a set of 15 real-world case studies published by the National High School Ethics Bowl organization, focusing on a case a week. Closer to competition time, they think more strategically and carefully about each case. The competition is more or less like a debate, with civil discourse emphasized over power of argumentation.

Go Charter! 

Pictured: The Penn Charter Ethics Bowl team with the championship trophy from the Delaware Valley Regional Competition on Feb. 4.