By A.V. Musick and Riley Savedge

As we clumsily opened the door to the silent boardroom, we were greeted by 17 Ethics Senior Capstone students, deep in thought, pondering their cases. Beginning our observation in the middle of a case, the phrase “National Parks” quickly became our focus. It was evident that Team A, otherwise known as Team Robins, had the stage to argue their belief in preserving the habitat of wildlife in United States National Parks.

The National High School Ethics Bowl, or NHSEB, promotes, according to their website “respectful, supportive, and in-depth discussion of ethics among high school students nationwide” while pondering relevant ethical dilemmas, such as pavement in national parks and pets as feed in zoos. The Senior Capstone Ethics class, taught by Director of JK-12 Capstones Rhiannon Boyd, prepares students to compete in regional and statewide Ethics Bowl competitions by teaching, according to Collegiate’s 2025-2026 Upper School Program of Studies, the “skills of civil discourse and deliberative discussion so that students are better able to engage in their communities as informed, participating citizens.”

We had the privilege of witnessing Team Robins—Elle Garnett (’26), Finley Whitcamp (’26), JD Chen (’26), James Stubbs (’26), and Amirah Diggs-Majied (’26)—compete against Team Mooreland: Carter Quigley (’26), Stella Vetrovec (’26), Leila Gazoni (’26), and Davis Bruning (’26).

Team Robins.

At the end of Team Robins’ statement, judges had a ten-minute window of opportunity to inquire more about their stance on the case. The judges’ panel for this round was science teacher Sandra Marr, art teacher Sarah O’Leary, and Director of Outdoor Collegiate Brad Cooke. O’Leary prompted an insightful question surrounding Team Robins’ argument that the point of preservation is to preserve, asking if taking care of the environment is more important than making parks accessible to those with disabilities. Team Robins then responded, stating it’s best to minimize the amount of harmful materials in the environment, and paved trails through parks fail to accomplish this goal.

Overall, as two students who are unfamiliar with the Ethics Bowl, we found it clear and easy to understand each team’s arguments. Both teams did an excellent job engaging both the judges and their audience.

All photos by A.V. Musick and Riley Savedge.