Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies hosts high school ethics bowl
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A team of Ames High School students have won the 2026 Iowa High School Ethics Bowl.
Hosted last month by Iowa State University, the annual Iowa High School Ethics Bowl is a statewide, team-focused competition that promotes critical thinking, civil dialogue and ethical awareness among high school students. During the event, student teams debate complex, real-world cases and issues, and are judged on their ability to present their arguments and how respectfully they work with their own team and the opposing team.
This year, 12 teams from six Iowa high schools participated in the competition, including three groups from Ames High School. The winning team – Ames Team #2, coached by Ames teacher Chad Zmolek – now moves on to the divisional round of competition in the 2026 National High School Ethics Bowl (NHSEB). Divisional competition winners will advance to the 2026 NHSEB National Championship event in April.
Kate Padgett Walsh, a philosophy professor at Iowa State who helped organize the first Iowa High School Ethics Bowl in 2020, and Courtney Wilson, associate teaching professor of philosophy and religious studies at Iowa State, were the co-organizers of the 2026 Iowa High School Ethics Bowl.
Padget Walsh and Wilson said the event has grown every year since its inception, noting that participation nearly doubled from 2025 to 2026.
“Teachers and students are looking for ways to talk about challenging issues without resorting to either dense academic jargon or shouting matches and personal attacks,” Wilson said. “And that’s exactly what Ethics Bowl cultivates.
“The Ethics Bowl program offers accessible resources for high school classrooms or clubs that help students learn to make well-reasoned arguments while genuinely listening to one another and navigating disagreement with respect.”
Wilson said the program provides case studies about the real issues students are already wrestling with – AI, misinformation, voting ethics and more – and gives them space to develop thoughtful responses, together.
“Most importantly, students then carry these skills into their everyday lives and conversations and learn to handle hard topics with care and rigor and to communicate productively with people who think differently,” Wilson said.
“We would love to continue welcoming more schools and students to the Iowa High School Ethics Bowl community, and we would encourage anyone who is interested in learning more to reach out.”
More information: https://philrs.iastate.edu/ethics/ethics-bowl/
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Iowa High School Ethics Bowl
- Kate Padgett Walsh, kpadwa@iastate.edu, 515-294-5400
- Courtney Wilson, cwv@iastate.edu, 515-294-0593
Ames School District
- Amy DeLashmutt, delashmutt@ames.k12.ia.us, 515-268-6651