COMPETITIVE AWARDS

National Championship Awards

  • National Champion

    Awarded each year to the winning team of the NHSEB National Championship, this honor is accompanied by a unique crystal trophy and a full year of bragging rights as the best High School Ethics Bowl team in the country.

  • National Runner-Up

    This award recognizes a second-place finisher for the NHSEB National Championship each year, in recognition of the fact that final matches are often close and hard-fought.

  • Robert Ladenson Spirit Award

    Established in 2015 and named for Ethics Bowl creator Professor Robert Ladenson, this award celebrates the National Championship team which best embodies the spirit and ideals of the Ethics Bowl, as voted on by all teams. The criteria include: (1) Respect, civility, and courtesy for others, both during the rounds and informal discussion; (2) Thoughtfulness, in terms of expressing their positions and commenting on other teams’ presentation; and (3) Sportsmanship, in terms of valuing collaboration above competition.

  • Judges' Choice Award

    Established in 2022, the NHSEB Judges’ Choice Award goes to the team with the highest cumulative points in Judges’ Q&A sessions across National Preliminary Rounds. The Judges’ Period in an Ethics Bowl match requires quick and careful thinking in order to respond to tough questions from Judges with a diverse set of backgrounds—an essential skill for engaging in public life.

  • Heely Social Awards

    Newly established in 2023 as a way of getting NHSEB Championship participants to build community together on the UNC-Chapel Hill Campus, honors are given for the best social media presence in various categories. See our historical awards below for more detailed descriptions of each year’s Heely Categories.

NHSEB Community Awards

  • Case Competition Awards

    Each year, three cases submitted by NHSEB students are selected for potential inclusion in NHSEB’s Regional and National Case Sets, and awards are given for an overall Winner and two Honorable Mentions. Each award is accompanied by an official citation and a cash prize for the author, in addition to publication of their case.

  • Coach of the Year

    Established in 2023, this award is designed to celebrate the extraordinary impact educators have on the Ethics Bowl activity. It annually recognizes the Ethics Bowl Coach who most clearly and consistently expresses and promotes our program’s core values: dialogue over disagreement, reasoning over rhetoric, and an appreciation for moral nuance wherever it exists. Teachers make the activity what it is, and all that NHSEB students accomplish would scarcely be possible without their effort and example. Winners receive an official citation, a commemorative plaque, and a $500 honorarium to aid in the development of Ethics Bowl programming at their schools.

  • Foushee Alumni Scholarship

    Established in 2023 and named for NHSEB alum and the program’s first Undergraduate Assistant, Austin Foushee, the Alumni Scholarship is available to a graduating senior participating in the National High School Ethics Bowl program (and any of its affiliated Regional Competitions) who plans to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

ANNUAL AWARD WINNERS By YEAR

  • NHSEB National Champion: Skyline High School

    NHSEB Runner-Up: Regis High School

    Third Place: Chapel Hill High School

    Fourth Place: Medford High School

    Robert Ladenson Spirit of the Ethics Bowl Award: James River High School

    Judges’ Choice Award: Tigard High School

    Coach of the Year Award: Pam Antos and Merry Guerrera, Hilliard School District (Ohio)

    Heely Social Media Awards

    • Chapel Thrill (Best Photo with a UNC Landmark): Tigard High School

    • Besties with Ramses (Best Post with UNC Mascot): Maryville High School

    • Ethics Droll (Best Social Media Ethics Pun): Campbell High School

    • Huddle Buddies (Best Group Photo of 2+ Teams): St. Ignatius Preparatory School

    • Platonic Rizz (Best Photographic Recreation of Raphael’s School of Athens): Hickman High School

    Student Case Competition

    • Winner: “Frankenstein Child” by Sasha Bauhs, The Pingry School

    • Honorable Mention: “David Rohde” by Katheryn Plotner, Skyline High School

    • Honorable Mention: “Is Hockey for Everyone?” by Bella Fritz, The Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences

  • Winner: Princeton High School (NJ)

    Second Place: University High School (CA)

    Third Place: UWC-USA (NM)

    Fourth Place: Kent Place School (NJ)

    Robert Ladenson Spirit of the Ethics Bowl Award: Clearwater Central Catholic High School (FL).

    Judges’ Choice Award: Classical Christian Studies (OK); Bethpage High School (NY).

    Case Competition

    • Winner: Beyond the Hashtag by Yunah Kwon (Centennial High School)

    • Honorable Mention: Elected Judges by Luis Brea (Fairfield Preparatory School)

    • Honorable Mention: To Ban or Not to Ban by Kyle Kim and Krishna Nagarajan (Canyon Crest Academy)

    The 2022 NHSEB Awards Ceremony is viewable here.

  • Winner: University High School (CA)

    Second Place: Kent Place School (NJ)

    Third Place: Hackley School (NY)

    Fourth Place: Oxbridge Academy (FL)

    Robert Ladenson Spirit of the Ethics Bowl Award: The Academy at Palumbo (PA).

    Case Competition

    • Winner: Edited Embryos by Sarang Min, Nicole Chen, Amber Yeung (University High School)

    • Honorable Mention: Airport Security by Trevor Brooks (Oakwood Friends School)

    • Honorable Mention: CPR Conundrum by Sarah Cheyney (Stuyvesant High School)

    The 2021 NHSEB Awards Ceremony is viewable here.

  • 2019-2020 National Finalists

    Ames High School (Iowa)

    Ann Arbor Greenhills School (Michigan)

    Atlantic Community High School (Florida)

    Cary Academy (North Carolina)

    Conestoga High School (Pennsylvania)

    Cypress Charter School (California)

    Decatur High School (Georgia)

    Dove Science Academy (Oklahoma)

    Hilliard Davidson High School (Ohio)

    Lincoln High School (Oregon)

    Lincoln School (Rhode Island)

    Little Rock Central High School (Arkansas)

    Marion High School (Illinois)

    Medford High School (Massachusetts)

    Peak to Peak High School (Colorado)

    Rockbridge High School (Missouri)

    School Without Walls (Washington, D.C.)

    St. Andrew’s – Sewanee School (Tennessee)

    Stanton College Prep High School (Florida)

    Stony Brook School (New York)

    The Hackley School (New York)

    The Masterman School (Pennsylvania)

    Walter Payton High School (Illinois)

    Westwood High School (Texas)

    Case Competition

    • Winner: The Korean Pop Industrial Complex, by Camille Luong (St. Petersburg HS, FL) and Maggie Sun (Arcadia HS, CA)

    • Honorable Mention: Don’t Check That Box, by Jenny Duan (Jesuit HS, OR)

    • Honorable Mention: A Sardonic Sarco, by Riya Kataria (Irvington HS, CA)

  • Winner: Jesuit High School (OR)

    Second Place: Choate Rosemary Hall (CT)

    Third Place: St. Petersburg High School (FL)

    Fourth Place: Colorado Academy (CO)

    Robert Ladenson Spirit of the Ethics Bowl Award: Decatur High School (GA); Benjamin Banneker Academic High School (DC)

  • Winner: Kent Place School (NJ)

    Second Place: Stanford Online High School (CA)

    Third Place: Glendora High School (CA)

    Fourth Place: Maryville High School (TN)

    Robert Ladenson Spirit of the Ethics Bowl Award: Gregorio Luperon High School; Herron High School; Tatum High School

  • Winner: North Carolina School of Science & Mathematics (NC)

    Second Place: Oregon Episcopal School (OR)

    Third Place: Kent Place School (NJ)

    Fourth Place: Herron High School (IN)

    Robert Ladenson Spirit of the Ethics Bowl Award: Wayne Memorial High School (MI)

  • Winner: East Chapel Hill High School (NC)

    Second Place: Harvard-Westlake High School (CA)

    Third Place: David H. Hickman High School (MO)

    Fourth Place: Greenhills High School (MI)

    Robert Ladenson Spirit of the Ethics Bowl Award: Herron High School (IN)

  • Winner: Waterford High School (UT)

    Second Place: Phillips Exeter Academy (NH)

    Third Place: Areté Preparatory Academy (CA)

    Fourth Place: Newport High School (WA)

    Robert Ladenson Spirit of the Ethics Bowl Award: Kirby School (CA)

  • Winner: East Chapel Hill High School (NC)

    Second Place: Jericho High School (NY)

    Third Place: Hickman High School (MO)

    Fourth Place: Cherry Hill High School East (PA)

  • Winner: St. Petersburg High School (FL)

    Second Place: East Chapel Hill High School (NC)

    Third Place: Triangle Homeschool (NC)

    Fourth Place: Farmingdale High School (NY)