Day One standings

Team photo gallery live!

Our masterful photographer Eddie has captured everyone's good sides, and this year's lineup of state champion photos is now live! Check your gorgeous self and your teammates (and opponents) out over here in our Facebook photo gallery -- and be sure to tag yourself!

Meet the PA host team

"We're from Dallas -- that's PA, not Texas," said Pennsylvania team captain Decklan Cerza at the coach and captain orientation Saturday night. The PA team from Dallas High School in the north east part of the state (near Scranton, for fans of NBC's The Office) made a short 2.5-hour drive to get to Philadelphia for the 2012 event. Other state champions came from as far as Honolulu, Hawaii!

Thanks for having us, PA! Wonder where we'll be in 2013 ... ?

What's at stake in 2012

LifeSmarts Program Director Lisa Hertzberg shows off this year's top trophy.

Exciting prizes and scholarships are on the line this year at the 2012 National LifeSmarts Championship in Philadelphia! Check this out -- and good luck to all!

First place team - each member receives:

$2,200 in scholarships from Visa, Toyota Financial Services, and Underwriters Laboratories

Gift cards valued at $200

Coach: $1,000 educational grant, gift cards worth more than $100, and a sweet treat gift pack

Second place team - each member receives:

$1,000 in scholarships

Coach: gift cards worth more than $100, and a sweet treat gift pack

Two third place teams - each member receives:

$550 in scholarships

Coach: gift cards worth more than $100, and a sweet treat gift pack

Four fourth place teams - each member receives:

$200 in scholarships 

Coach: gift cards worth more than $100

Topic champions and coach, student, and coordinator of the year each receive fabulous prizes as well!

Checking in and getting settled

FCCLA team from Friona, Texas, checking out the scoreboard and bracket system.

Donna Mancuso and her team from Crosby High in Connecticut getting registered with the lovely Miss Tee, NCL's Office Manager.

The growing mountain of luggage, from near and far all over the United States, as students check in at the Sheraton.

It's really happening!

Alabama has arrived!

The teams are landing in Philly! Team activities will soon begin, and the competition is almost officially underway! Remember to turn in your coach of the year forms by 1pm Monday at the registration desk, and don't forget to check the online scoreboard here to keep track of your team's progress!

Hello from Florida!

Submitted by Neemah Najafi, Florida

We are a team of 4 seniors and 1 freshman from Paxon School for Advanced Studies. We live in Jacksonville, Florida and competed in Tampa and won the title of 2012 Florida Champions. For all of us, this is our first year on a LifeSmarts team. However, our coach Kathryn Loggie has been doing LifeSmarts for several years now. Last year, our school’s team won the Florida title and got 4^th place in the national championship.

To prepare, we meet after school with snacks and drinks and practice doing buzzer questions, multiple choice questions, team activities, and lightning rounds. Each of us on the team picked one of the five categories of LifeSmarts topics to specialize in so as to have a more well-rounded team. We are really excited to go to Philadelphia and look forward to meeting the rest of the teams, especially our sister team, Arizona. And of course we can’t wait to find a great Philly cheesesteak!

Our state coordinator is Gwendolyn Worlds.