By Brandi Williams, LifeSmarts Program Manager
This was my third year attending the Virginia LifeSmarts
state competition in Richmond. Held on the gorgeous University of Richmond
campus on a beautiful early spring day, teams from across Virginia competed for
the chance to represent the Commonwealth at the National LifeSmarts
Championship in Philadelphia.
Following the Nationals format, the Virginia competition
used cumulative scoring to determine its finalists. This added tons of
excitement to the competition, since it allowed all teams to remain in the running
for most of the day! The Honorable Matt Lohr, Commissioner of Virginia
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences, served as Question Master for
the Final match between the Marshall High School Statesmen I team and the Henrico
County 4-H WYSIWIG team, and the match was close! But the Statesmen I took the
competition and title of Virginia State Champion by one question, and I look
forward to seeing them again at Nationals!
As always, I had a fantastic time at the competition in
Richmond. The dedicated members of the Virginia LifeSmarts Coalition always strive
to give the amazing teams who attend the annual competition a meaningful,
educational and, most of all, fun experience, and they succeeded again this
year. Thanks to the leadership of Dr. Celia Ray Hayhoe, Virginia’s long-time
state LifeSmarts coordinator, everyone had an amazing time. I can’t wait to do
it again next year!
