Three members of the Poughkeepsie High School debate club took part in the annual Westchester County Regional High School Ethics Bowl on Saturday, winning one of three matches.
The Jan. 31 competition, hosted at Sacred Heart Greenwich in Connecticut, featured high school teams debating cases covering a wide range of ethical and moral topics, in a tournament format. A panel of volunteers judged the teams on how they articulate ideas and their respect for their opponents.
The Poughkeepsie trio of junior Christopher Webb and seniors LeGiah White and Amaya Rosemin lost to Dover and John Jay in the first two rounds before defeating John S. Burke Catholic High School.
The annual ethics bowl was started by Dr. Siobhan Nash of the Marshall School for Ethical Thought and Action at Manhattanville University. Dr. Sankung Susso, the Poughkeepsie debate club adviser, said the event “fosters ethical thinking and challenges students to contemplate issues of moral and ethical dimensions, and contrast them alongside law and other social norms.”
In preparation for the event, the students participated in Socratic dialogue, a method of cooperative, argumentative and question-driven dialogue in the Socratic-method style. They trained to avoid long, uninterrupted speeches and to focus on understanding the other person's premise.
“The process challenges and refines students' beliefs, leading to a deeper understanding, often beginning from a position of admitted unawareness,” Susso said. “It's like the famed Socratic saying, "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing," which emphasizes humility and the pursuit of knowledge.”
Susso praised the impact the event had on his students. Though Poughkeepsie has competed before, it was a first for the trio attending.
“LeGiah said that the event has helped her boost her self-confidence,” Susso said. “Amayah was happy to meet new students and be in a collegial atmosphere in a different environment.”
Susso said the debate club will now look forward to the Academic World Quest Regional Competition at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park on March 7.