After months of practice and preparation, a Roslyn High School Team took third place at this year’s Long Island High School Ethics Bowl, which took place in January at Hofstra University. The winning team members are: Meena Ardebili, Behnam Ardebili, Chloe Kaplan, Yena Kim and Alan Louis.
Two Roslyn teams participated in the competition, which consisted of four preliminary rounds in which teams discussed various ethical dilemmas that dealt with topics ranging from lying to your parents to using immunization programs as a cover for spying operations. The competition tested the students’ ability to make complex ethical arguments, respond appropriately and politely to an opposing team and to answer tough questions from a panel of three judges.
A strong performance was also put forth by Roslyn’s other team, one consisting of Daniel Chai, Chloe Levin, Bailey Kaplan, Marc Perlman and Isabella Smith. To prepare, the students read and researched the ethical dilemmas and then collaborated to write up cases. The team members all agreed that the best preparation was when the two Roslyn teams squared off in practice rounds.
“All in all, it was a great experience for the students,” said Dr. Allyson Weseley, the team’s coach. “It teaches them to see other perspectives, to think on their feet and to listen to and collaborate with people who hold views different from their own.”
