Students to showcase critical thinking skills in ethics bowl
Twelve teams of students from eight different local high schools will showcase their understanding of complex social issues during Palm Beach County’s Fifth Annual High School Ethics Bowl on Feb. 6 at Palm Beach State College’s Lake Worth campus.
The event is hosted by PBSC’s Center for Applied Ethics in partnership with the School District of Palm Beach County and its Division of Teaching and Learning.
The participating schools are: Atlantic High School, Boca Raton High School, Forest Hill High School, Olympic Heights High School, Oxbridge Academy, Palm Beach Gardens High School, Santaluces High School and Doral Academy Charter School from Miami-Dade County.
The bowl will enhance students’ sense of ethical commitment by demonstrating the importance of applying values to decision making. Ethical case topics will include genetic testing and embryo selection; nonprofit donations; journalistic responsibility in revealing a scandal; and obligations to report criminal history on job applications, among others.
Community and business leaders, local government officials and school district personnel serve as judges and moderators. The top-ranked team receives an invitation to compete in the Fourth Annual National High School Ethics Bowl April 15-16 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Support also has been provided by the Palm Beach County Bar Association’s Young Lawyers and North County sections.
Leaders from PBSC, the Center for Applied Ethics and the School District of Palm Beach County developed the first Palm Beach County Ethics Bowl in 2012 with the support of a generous grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Since then, the event has been held on an annual basis.
