Greater Cincinnati Regional FAQs
Answers to frequently asked questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ethics Bowl is a debate style competition but is very different from debate. Its founder, Bob Ladenson, views it as scoring a conversation and teaching people how to engage in dialogue. It is a competitive yet collaborative event in which students discuss timely real-life ethical issues. Students are not assigned opposing views; rather, they defend whichever position they think is correct, provide each other with constructive criticism, and win by demonstrating that they have thought rigorously and systematically about the cases and engaged respectfully and supportively with all participants.
NHSEB was founded in 2012. NHSEB’s aims and ideals at the time of its founding were essentially three-fold: (1) to take seriously the contribution that teenagers make as members of their communities, (2) to cultivate skills and virtues central to democratic citizenship, and (3) to prepare students to navigate challenging moral issues in a thoughtful and open-minded way. In its inaugural year, it served around 1,000 students from 89 schools in 11 states. 12 regional competitions sent their victors to the inaugural national competition, held on the UNC-CH campus in 2013. As of 2023, the NHSEB serves over 4,000 students from around 450 teams, which represent 375 schools, nationally. There are 44 regionals in 34 states.
Data from NHSEB surveys has shown that participating in ethics bowl teaches and promotes ethical awareness, critical thinking, civil discourse, civic engagement, and an appreciation for multiple points of view in students. Teachers also believe students involved in ethics bowl have improved standardized test scores when compared to non-participating students.
The competition is open to students in grades 9-12. Teams can come from any type of school: public, private, charter, magnet, independent, dual enrollment, or home schools. We also encourage high school-aged students from community organizations (e.g. the CPD Police Youth Cadet Program, Girl and Boy Scout troops, Inroads, and Links) to form teams and participate.
It is recommended that schools attend the Regional competition closest to them. Teams from the greater Cincinnati tri-state region should register for the Greater Cincinnati Regional and are given first priority.
Students from outside the Greater Cincinnati area can still compete in our Regional if it is their closest regional competition. For a complete list of regional competitions, visit the NHSEB website: https://nhseb.org/regionals.
Starting a team is simple, and we’re here to help! If you’re interested in forming a team at your school or within a community organization, contact the Cincinnati Ethics Center for resources to get started. We offer coaching, preparatory materials, and guidance to ensure your team is ready for the competition. Once you have the necessary materials, you’ll need to get approval from school administrators, which we can assist with as well.
Absolutely! Ethics Bowl is designed to be accessible to students with a range of experience. While background knowledge in ethics can be helpful, the competition values thoughtful reasoning, creativity, and open-mindedness above all. Whether you’re new to ethics or already passionate about the subject, you can succeed in Ethics Bowl by engaging deeply with the cases and practicing respectful dialogue.
We also offer a number of coaches’ resources to help teams prepare. Coach must register on our website to access the materials.
The regional case set was released by NHSEB office on September 15, 2025
The 2026 competition will be held over two days (times are approximate):
Saturday, January 23: 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM (lunch provided to registered participants)
Sunday, January 24: 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
All registered teams will compete in four (4) preliminary rounds (barring weather) on Saturday, January 23. Only the top eight (8) scoring schools will advance to the finals on Sunday, January 24.
Yes, the rules are administered by the National High School Ethics Bowl (NHSEB). You can find the official NHSEB Rules Manual here: https://nhseb.org/rules-documents.
We also have rules specific to our Regional that include:
Number of Teams Per School
Each school can register up to two teams for the Greater Cincinnati Regional High School Ethics Bowl. Schools may also conditionally register a third team. If all spots are not filled by the first or second teams from schools, the remaining spots will be offered to third teams. If more third teams are registered than available spots, a lottery will decide which third teams get in. Third teams will be notified about their entry status by Wednesday, December 17, 2025.
Number of Participants Per Team
Teams need a minimum of three students and a maximum of eight. A maximum of five can compete in any one round, with no substitutions during the round.
Small Teams
The Greater Cincinnati Regional High School Ethics Bowl has experienced significant growth, and as a result, it’s possible there may not be enough competition slots for all interested schools. If this occurs, schools with two small teams (e.g., teams of three) may be asked to combine into a single team, at the discretion of the Cincinnati Ethics Center, to accommodate more participants.
Advancing to Sunday
After Saturday’s qualifiers, the top eight schools will advance to Sunday’s finals rounds. Only one team per school can move on to Sunday. If multiple teams from the same school make the top eight, the higher-scoring team will advance. The second team will be removed, and the next highest-ranked team will move into the top eight. Teams cannot change competitors between Saturday and Sunday; the lineup for Sunday must match the team that qualified on Saturday.
Name Tags
Students must wear name tags during each round. The round will not start until all students have their name tags on.
Team registration will open in September, same day cases are released. Schools must register for our regional and with the NHSEB HQ to participate. Registration will close Friday, December 12, 2025. To allow for appropriate preparation time, it is recommended that coaches commit to participating before the Thanksgiving holiday.
There is no fee to participate in the Greater Cincinnati Regional High School Ethics Bowl. However, teams are also required to register with the National High School Ethics Bowl (NHSEB) HQ and pay their yearly registration fee to compete in our regional.
NHSEB registration fees will be increased for the 2024-2025 season. This year, the fees will be $175 for teams who sign up before November 1st and $250 for teams who register late. NHSEB HQ is committed to ensuring that no students are prevented from participating because of financial need. Therefore, financial assistance and/or fee waivers are available for teams who qualify. For more information or to request a fee waiver, please contact the NHSEB HQ.
We have added a new feature to our website that will allow coaches to edit their team roster(s) (add/delete team members) thru Wednesday, Jan 14, 2026. This is a firm deadline in order to give organizers an opportunity to prepare nametags for the competition.
In the event of a Level 2 (or higher) Snow Emergency in Hamilton County, the Greater Cincinnati Regional will be held virtually via Zoom. Under a Level 2 Emergency, driving conditions are hazardous with ice and low visibility caused by blowing and drifting snow. For everyone’s safety, all or certain roadways are closed. Only essential travel is advised, and extreme caution is urged. We will monitor the weather leading to the competition weekend and may decide to go virtual before a Snow Emergency has been called, based on the forecast. In that case, the decision will be announced by 5pm the Thursday before competition weekend.
Yes! The Greater Cincinnati Regional High School Ethics Bowl cannot be held without a strong showing of volunteer support. Volunteers can come from many walks of life: community members, local current or retired professionals or, alumni, faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students from UC.
In addition to general volunteers that can help with event logistics, three key roles that must be filled for each match are judges, moderators, and room staff. Click here to learn more about volunteering for the competition: https://www.cincyethics.org/volunteer-registration/.
Volunteers with less than two years of Ethics Bowl experience, are required to complete an online training course approximately two hours in length by Friday, January 16, 2026 to be scheduled.
Yes! The NHSEB has released 4, short videos, that will provide tips on being an effective judge and a walkthrough of the moderator role.
Judge Tips: The Judges’ Q&A (3:47); Judge Tips: Scoring a Match (12:07); Judge Tips: Tricks for Effective Judging (13:44); and Moderator Role Walkthrough (6:25).
To learn more about High School Ethics Bowl contact:
Venus Kent
Program Manager of Events
venus.kent@uc.edu
(513) 556-7443
