Walls Team Falters at Ethics Bowl, Breaking Two Year Streak

The Pondering Penguins–Abigail Dowd (‘26), Siena Lenerz (‘28), Augusta Kankel (‘25), Jillian Sanders (‘26) and Willa McCartney (‘26) compete in the regional Ethics Bowl. Photo credit: Kerry Sylvia.

On Saturday, February 1st, the Walls Ethics Club sent two teams to compete in the first stage of the National High School Ethics Bowl, a three-stage competition where teams from around the DMV discuss complicated ethical issues. The winning team of the regional Ethics Bowl advances to a divisional competition, from which they can qualify for nationals. From 8:00 am - 6:00 pm at American University, the Wise Waddlers and the Pondering Penguins met with three teams each. The Wise Waddlers won two out of the three rounds, but the Pondering Penguins lost all three.

In each match of an Ethics Bowl, two teams discuss a case from an assigned case packet. The first team (Team A) presents a response, based on their research and conclusions. Then, the second team (Team B) provides commentary on Team A’s argument. Team A responds to Team B’s commentary and then answers questions from the judges. Team B then presents their response and the process repeats. Examples from the current case packet include children in extreme sports and AI partners.

According to Ms. Kerry Sylvia, the club sponsor, the Wise Waddlers came in fifth place overall. In addition, the Wise Waddlers team won the Spirit of the Bowl Award which Elise Monte (‘28), defined as the team with the “highest respectful dialogue and the most engaged.” Club leader, Naia Alberts (‘26), explained that the Ethics Bowl was “a lot more competitive this year [since] there were a lot more teams at the competition… because schools are returning from the COVID era.”

Last year, Walls sent two teams to the regional competition, which came in first and second, following the same results in 2023 in which one team did ultimately advance to Nationals. Unfortunately, last year, they lost the divisional round and could not go to nationals. Alberts explained, “Our regional competition was scheduled much later than every other region, so we had only a few days to prepare.” 

Although the Pondering Penguins and the Wise Waddlers won’t move onto the divisionals, Alberts concluded, “I think we’ll be able to learn a lot from this year and be able to apply that next year.” Monte agreed, reflecting that “it was a good first experience to learn about it,” and encouraged others to join the Ethics Club. Interested students can attend weekly meetings on Thursdays at 8:15 in room 330.