South Kamloops Secondary Students Won the 2024 National Ethics Bowl in Winnipeg

Congratulations to South Kamloops Secondary School (SKSS) students, who have won the Canadian National Ethics Bowl in Winnipeg on May 4, 2024. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights hosted twelve finalists of the approximately 150 original teams in a competition that occurred over an intense two days.

“We are so proud of the South Kamloops Secondary School Ethics Bowl Team taking home the title of National Champions in 2024!” shared Superintendent, Dr. Rhonda Nixon. “SKSS joins the NorKam Senior Secondary team who were National Ethics Bowl champions last year. This is a significant accomplishment two years in a row.”

Among the winning team were Grade 10 and 11 students: Jorden Atherton-Wyatt, Maeve Belomon, Izumi Heyland, Ava Rieger, and Yusra Rahman. SKSS teacher, Mr. Graeme Hallett supported students by being their mentor, coach, and key supporter during challenging moments. The depth of the team’s philosophical knowledge put into practice, their ability to support each other’s statements, and their unflappable demeanor were some of the key facets that made the difference over the course of the competition.  “They worked hard for this,” said Hallet, “They’re amazing.”

An Ethics Bowl is both a collaborative and competitive event, where teams discuss current ethical dilemmas of social, political, economic, scientific, or cultural nature. Prior to the day, all “bowlers” research and develop the cases and arrive at the Ethics Bowl prepared to discuss their ideas and to listen to other perspectives.

Students were evaluated on communication, use of relevant information, critical thinking, and collaboration, among other academic skill sets. Some examples of the issues SKSS competitively discussed were: civil disobedience, AI art, compassionate robots, territorial acknowledgements, and the monarchy.

"Ethics bowl participants must be able to give and take criticism without hostility, which requires considerable discipline. When flaws in ideas are revealed, participants need both the knowledge base and the intellectual flexibility to modify complex ideas in real time. They navigated these challenges with grace and swift intellect,” said Graeme Hallet, teacher.

“I stayed in touch with Mr. Hallet throughout the three days they were in Winnipeg,” said Walt Kirschner, Principal. “It was very exciting to have a South Kam team participating at a national level event, and then to win the event with such a young team was amazing. Our Titan Nation is so proud of the courage, resilience, and dedication that our students and sponsor teachers displayed with this national championship performance.”

“It is an amazing accomplishment for this team and the district. I am so proud of the staff who supported them, and the students who developed their collaborative skills to such a high level,” said Bill Hamblett, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education.