Goose Lake High School’s participation in the Manitoba High School Ethics Bowl began as a student-led initiative during the 2021-2022 school year. A small group of students, advised by Mrs. Brenda Neuhofer, participated in the virtual competition hosted by the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties (MARL). The idea of an Ethics Bowl competition is somewhat unique in that you both collaborate and compete with other teams to find solutions to ethical conundrums. In some ways, it does resemble a classic debate, but in others it is more like a constructive dialogue between groups trying to explore an important topic. Teams field five students per match with the option of having two alternatives that can rotate in or out. Points are awarded and there are winners of each round of competition, but there is simultaneously a greater emphasis on working with the ideas of your opponent in a respectful manner. Points, in fact, are awarded for being respectful in your communication. Neutral judges pose questions and score each match. Topics range from the philosophical to the practical and everything in between.
This year, following one teacher advisor retirement, multiple students having graduated, and a return to in-person competition saw a very different team sign-up for the 2022-2023 competition at the University of Manitoba. With no returning members, the GLH Ethics Bowl team went into the training and competition with some trepidation. GLH put forward a younger team than many schools with two grade 9 students and no grade 12 students on the roster. Thankfully, what they lacked in age, they made up for in insightfulness and character. Students met one to two lunches per week to review cases, discuss ethical topics, and do their background research. Mrs. Neuhofer returned to be the female chaperone for out-of-town events and Mr. Sinclair was willing to provide his time and expertise as well for the final competition.
Initial training, which took place at the Manitoba Human Rights Museum in December, demonstrated that Goose Lake High School would be unique to the competition in both its smaller school size and its rural setting. Goose Lake High School had travelled the furthest and was also going to be one of the youngest teams present. Most of the local competitors woke up in their homes the day of competition and arrived a short time later, but GLH students had to drive into Winnipeg the night before in less-than-ideal weather. The competition was daunting and the team went into the day at the University of Manitoba hoping for even a minimal level of success. The fear was going 0-3 in competition with one-sided matches after having travelled so far. As it would turn out, the students significantly underestimated their own preparation and abilities. They exceeded all of their own expectations in winning efforts in matches against tough competitors such as Kildonan East Collegiate, Collège Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau, and Seven Oaks Met School.
Cases for each match, provided ahead of time, included a wide array of topics such as those related to professional disobedience, legal pluralism, laws of armed conflict, crime and morality, the future of Artificial Intelligence in the medical field, and more. Each case came with a set of questions to consider and additional readings related to the topic. This is an extracurricular activity that generates homework and so it takes a certain type of academic dedication to participate. Advancing to the semi-finals, Goose Lake High School eventually was eliminated in a close match with Miles MacDonnell Collegiate. Still, finishing fourth in the province out of 18 teams was a tremendous achievement and was a strong showing for a young and inexperienced team. These students represented their school and rural Manitoba with a tremendous effort and conducted themselves as effective ambassadors. Going forward, Goose Lake High is ready to send another competitive team in the future, using the lessons learned from this year’s competition. This year’s team consisted of Roaa Yousif, Taeyun Kim, Elizabeth Gingrich, Robin Squirra, Isaac Nabess, and Hayley Allen. Staff involved included Mr. Sinclair, Mr. Collins and Mrs. Neuhofer. The future of Ethics Bowl competition at Goose Lake High looks bright.