Peak to Peak Charter, Boulder High slated for first Colorado High School Ethics Bowl

Karen Amidon, a teacher at Lafayette’s Peak to Peak Charter School, started a high school ethics bowl team last year, only to find that Colorado didn’t have any other teams or a regional competition.

Her team ended up traveling to Utah to compete, where they made it to the finals while going up against 26 other teams.

For the competition, the teams tackled real-life issues that included lowering the voting age to 16, Medicaid coverage for gender reassignment surgery and legislation preventing employers from asking about criminal history.

“What’s unique is the teams have to engage in constructive conversations,” said Amidon, who teaches a philosophy class along with English. “They’re rewarded for having productive dialogue instead of shouting over each other. In a time when public discourse has become so contentious, it’s very resonant.”

After the competition, she asked the national organization, headquartered at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Parr Center for Ethics, about getting a regional competition closer to home.

The national organization reached out to the Center for Values and Social Policy in CU Boulder’s Philosophy Department, and director David Boonin agreed to organize the state’s first regional High School Ethics Bowl.

The competition, with eight teams from five Front Range high schools expected to attend, is set for Saturday. Locally, Peak to Peak plans to send two teams and Boulder High plans to send one.

Because this first regional competition is small, Boonin said, the winner will need to compete against the winner of another small regional competition to win a spot at nationals.

But he’s hoping more high schools will join in future years, growing Colorado’s competition enough that the winning team can go directly to nationals.

“A lot of people think you need a philosophy background, but you just need to develop the ability to think critically,” he said. “As these students become adults, they’re going to have to be able to make moral decisions. They can think through those decisions rationally, instead of making an off the cuff decision.”

For the competition, teams take turns analyzing cases and responding to questions and comments from the other team and a panel of judges.

Unlike a debate competition, the two teams don’t take opposing sides.

Instead, they defend the position they think is correct, provide each other with constructive criticism and win by demonstrating that they have thought rigorously and systematically about the cases.

Boulder High social studies teacher Nick Salazar, who recruited five sophomores for Boulder High’s first ethics team, said he liked the objectives of the competition, especially given the current political divisiveness.

“Students can really think more broadly about different points of view,” he said. “It’s about understanding how the other side thinks and coming to answer to the moral dilemma together.”

At Peak to Peak, there are two teams with 13 students total.

Students said one of the trickier cases they’re working on is whether they support banning religious garb, including the French ban on the burkinis, a full body swimsuit worn by Muslim women at beaches.

Other regional cases this year include virtual and augmented reality, police officers’ use of force and guns, exemptions from mandated contraceptive coverage and online privacy.

Teams that make it the national competition receive a new set of issues.

“You get to consider very common situations and really dig deep and pick them apart,” said Peak to Peak senior Nimish Garg. “It’s a safe haven for opinions. you learn how to disagree respectfully.”

Classmate Sara Branham added that she likes hearing the variety of approaches her teammates and the other teams take as they discuss the cases.

“I have my little bubble and getting out of that it very important,” she said.

Senior Lucie Amidon, who also competed last year, is optimistic about her team’s chances at the regional competition.

“As long as we say what we believe and are open to what we’re hearing from the other team, we’ll do well,” she said.

Amy Bounds: 303-473-1341, boundsa@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/boundsa