Can PV’s Ethics Bowl team achieve the same success as seen in previous years?

Every year, sports teams, clubs and other activities lose senior members due to graduation. Seniors pass down valuable knowledge to the future team but also leave behind big shoes to fill. Last year’s nationally ranked Ethics Bowl team consisted of seven seniors and one junior.

After losing seven senior members from the class of 2023, PV’s current Ethics Bowl team is ready to step up and achieve the same success.

National High School Ethics Bowl is a series of events in which students from across the country collaborate with teammates in competition over real-world ethical issues. In a typical competition setting, teams will go head-to-head analyzing case studies and answering questions from a panel of judges. The competition allows teams to defend ethical positions, differing from debate.

In 2021, English teacher Lynne Lundberg, known to her students as Dr. L, founded PV’s very own Ethics Bowl team. Lundberg offered an opportunity for students to explore ethical foundations while practicing intellectual competition.

In just 2 years, PV’s Ethics Bowl team has participated multiple times in the Ethics Bowl National Championships, which is held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The team holds meetings numerous times a week, with practice every day as the competition gets closer.

After copious amounts of practice, it’s no surprise PV’s Ethics Bowl team has seen remarkable success over the past couple of years.

With almost a completely new team, Lundberg’s expectations for this season stay high. “I went into the season 2 years ago without knowing what kinds of expectations I could have, but those kids who had never done it before won state, won regionals, went to nationals. My expectation is that all that is possible this year too,” Lundberg stated.

Lundberg explains that having members who can rise to the challenge and become leaders will be one of the biggest factors in the team’s success this year. “We’ve had students that have stepped up and said we’ll be leaders and take that role. I know we’ve got good leadership,” she said.

A team of seniors graduating means new leaders will need to occupy those empty positions, in order to maintain the successful state of the team. Senior Margil Sanchez Carmona is one of the leaders who has stepped up into the role.

By passing on skills and knowledge on ethics learned from competing for last year’s nationally ranked team, Sanchez Carmona understands the importance of leadership for this new team. “I was the only one who stayed for nationals prep, so I knew back then I needed to start preparing to lead the team for this year,” he said.

As for what the team is looking forward to this season, Sanchez Carmona is excited to share his passion for ethics with his teammates. “It’s a passion that drove my respect for my peers and my attention to the ethical issues. I’ll make sure this year to maintain that passion and share it with the new team,” Sanchez Carmona stated.

Although Sanchez Carmona is the only returning member from PV’s national team, Senior Ashwin Parab competed in both the state and regional tournaments last year. The two seniors have taken the role of leaders of Ethics Bowl at PV, after building up experience from the past year.

While the ‘start-from-scratch’ concept may seem difficult to conquer for a team with new members stepping into unfilled roles, Lundberg sees it as a benefit. “I think that open-mindedness that can come from having new folks can be really great…you get new energy from new people,” she said.

One returning member from a previous nationally ranked team means other students will need to fill the hollow roles left behind. As rising seniors step up as leaders, they inspire underclassmen to do the same, cementing the legacy of Ethics Bowl at PV for years to come

Emerging from the state competition as the undeniable frontrunners, the Pleasant Valley Ethics Bowl team returns home with a full podium sweep. This finish extends PV’s dominance in Ethics Bowl competitions for the past 3 years.

This year’s competitors  had limited  experience when they began, but now the teams demonstrate a noticeable shift in experience as well as membership.

Lynne Lundberg is the advisor and teacher in charge of the Ethics Bowl teams.Lundberg has been teaching ethical frameworks and moral questioning to students for many years but has only recently entered the world of Ethics Bowl. Under her mentorship, the Ethics Bowl team has seen impressive success this year, clinching a first, second, and third-place result. Now they progress to the regional competition.

After a season where the team reached the national level, many wondered if this year’s Ethics Bowl team would be able to meet their expectations. After losing a majority of their team members when they graduated, many had doubts about whether they could recuperate their loss in membership. Coming into the 2023-24 year there were only two seniors from the previous Ethics Bowl team, but through the hard work of the upperclassmen, the advisor and the new members, Ethics Bowl dispelled any of the doubts people had.

The Ethics Bowl team isn’t satisfied yet though. Veteran Ashwin Parab, a current senior, believes in this team. “We’ve been working hard meeting multiple times a week getting ready for regionals, and a lot of new members have been stepping up into leadership roles. I know that if we keep it up we have a good chance of making it to Nationals.”

Lundberg says that she is confident in the Ethics Bowl teams this year and believes in their ability to go the distance. “This year’s team has done a great job and the success has been quite striking. I’m optimistic that they have a very good chance at coming through the regional competition,” she said. She also wishes for the future success for the PV teams once she departs from her position as teacher, and consequently advisor to the team, at the end of the year.

While Lundberg may be leaving her position as an advisor to the Ethics Bowl team, current members such as Parab say that future teams will surely find their own success, “I’m excited to see what the team will do next year. With junior and sophomore members stepping up, the future of PV Ethics Bowl is in good hands. Additionally, Ethics Bowl’s recent success is also gaining traction at school, which is why I’m sure we’ll get new members.” He says that the current juniors will contribute heavily to building the team and hopes that Ethics Bowl can become what it meant to him for others.