Let’s Get Started: 2024-2025 Season Launch
from the Director
Dear NHSEB Community,
Today, the National High School Ethics Bowl will kick off its 2024-2025 Season with the release of a new and exciting Regional Case Set, some important updates to our program, and the opening of school registration.
This is my first year as director of the program, and I couldn't be more excited to kick off this year of NHSEB with you all.
Ethics Bowl helps students to develop the skills that allow them to be effective and successful members of our democracy and I am always inspired by it’s transformative power. High school students are already important members of society, and it can feel as though they are expected to know intrinsically how to engage with challenging topics or alternative beliefs constructively. Our activity is designed to equip participants to take on these challenges—not only as students, but as full members of social and political communities. Our goal is not merely to teach students to reason about and discuss moral and political issues. It is to teach them to do this hard work responsibly, constructively, and most importantly, together. I look forward to being a part of this project during the coming year!
Below we have compiled a few important reminders for the beginning of our season together. Please review them as your register your events and teams and get started for 2024-2025, and don't hesitate to reach out to my team (ethicsbowl@unc.edu) if you have any questions or concerns we can be of assistance with.
All the best,
Leo Kirby (he/him)
Director, National High School Ethics Bowl
Parr Center for Ethics
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Regional Qualification Form
To ensure that a Regional Competition is registered with the National High School Ethics Bowl, and that the information for their event is as up to date as possible, all Organizers should complete the official Regional Qualification Form by October 15, 2024. Projections of registration numbers are helpful for the purposes of allocating Divisional Playoff bids, and can be updated by contacting NHSEB HQ. Once NHSEB receives a Qualification Form, event dates will be listed on the NHSEB website and official calendar.
School Registration and Fees
For official recognition and to get started competitively, an Ethics Bowl team should complete a two-step registration process. These steps should generally be completed in tandem:
Teams should register with their geographically closest Regional Competition by contacting its Organizer(s). NHSEB Regionals typically occur between January 1 and early February of a given school year. A full list of contact information for NHSEB Regional Organizers is available here.
All teams participating in the NHSEB program must register with NHSEB HQ each season, and pay a yearly registration fee. The registration fee for 2024-2025 is $175, if schools register before November 1, 2024. After November 1, fees will increase to $250. All school registrations must be completed by January 15, 2025. As always, NHSEB HQ is committed to ensuring that no team is prevented from participating because of financial need. Therefore, financial assistance and/or fee waivers are available for teams who qualify as part of the NHSEBBridge initiative. For more information or to request a fee waiver, contact NHSEB. Schools may register and pay their fees here.
NHSEB Impact study
We are excited to announce that during the 2024-2025 academic year, the Parr Center for Ethics will be conducting a study to investigate the impact of the NHSEB. We thank you in advance for your consideration and participation, and for your help in learning more about the traits and dispositions our activity fosters. Official communications about the study for participants will be handled by Dr. Michael Vazquez.
If you are interested in participating in this year’s study, please email the study coordinator, Dr. Michael Vazquez, with your school’s name and role. Please also confirm that there is an NHSEB team at your school (whether or not you oversee it).
If you would like to read more about the Impact Study, you can do so on the Parr Center website, here.
More updates
The celebrated NHSEBAcademy program will continue to be a resource for teams, including printable and graphic learning resources, an extensive slate of Studio Hours for on-demand coaching assistance with UNC-based Ethics Bowl experts, and more. The NHSEBAcademy website will undergo some maintenance over the next month, with additional programming announcements to come!
On September 30th, the popular Case Competition will launch, where students can submit their ideas for Ethics Bowl cases for potential inclusion in future NHSEB case sets, as well as a monetary prize for a winner and two honorable mentions. Students can learn more about this opportunity, submission guidelines, etc., here.
Applications for the 2024-2025 Foushee Alumni Scholarship will also open in October. This scholarship award, in the amount of $250, is available to an alumnus of the National High School Ethics Bowl program who will be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a first year student in the Fall of 2025. The 2024-2025 application cycle will open October 1, 2024, and all applications must be submitted by May 31, 2025. The winner of the scholarship will be notified by July 1, 2025, and the award will be disbursed as the Fall 2025 semester begins.
Finally, there are new appointments to the NHSEB's Student Advisory Council. Two new students will join two existing members who have been reappointed for 2024-2025 to bring student voices to the center of our activity. The new Student Advisory Council will be detailed in a formal announcement on NHSEB.org next week!