The St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School Ethics Bowl won their second consecutive state championship on Saturday, January 18 in Knoxville, Tenn. Team members include Sarah Beth Hobby (S. Pittsburg, TN), Gabriel Pongdee (Tracy City, TN), Erin Mattingly (Sewanee, TN), Jayla McLaurin (Las Vegas, NV), and Justine Rogers (Sewanee, TN). Mac Croom (Sewanee, TN) is an alternate to the team. The team is coached by SAS Interim Dean of Students and History Department Chair Geoffrey Smith.

The National High School Ethics Bowl (NHSEB) is a program that promotes respectful, supportive, and in-depth discussion of ethics among high school students. By engaging high school students in intensive ethical inquiry, the NHSEB fosters constructive dialogue and furthers the next generation’s ability to make sound ethical decisions. Our collaborative model rewards students for the depth of their thought, their ability to think carefully and analytically about complex issues, and the respect they show to the diverse perspectives of their peers.  As a result, it enables students to practice and build the virtues central to democratic citizenship, thus preparing them to navigate challenging moral issues in a rigorous, systematic, and open-minded way. As of 2019, the NHSEB involved over 4,000 students from over 500 teams representing 327 schools.

The SAS team will make their second national championship appearance in April at UNC-Chapel Hill.