Attorney General Beau Biden addresses state champs

Maryland wins!!

Maryland Takes National LifeSmarts Title in Philadelphia!

Philadelphia, PA—The student team from Frederick, MD was crowned national LifeSmarts champions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, April 24. After a tough final match against the second-place team from Jacksonville, FL, the teens from the Maryland Home Schoolers outscored their opponents and did it with great sportsmanship. Teams from Pennsylvania and Rhode Island placed third.

"We are so proud of these students from Maryland, who represented their state program with class and pride," said LifeSmarts Program Director Lisa Hertzberg. "They played hard and demonstrated their consumer smarts throughout the four-day event. They are true LifeSmarts champions."

LifeSmarts is a program run by the Washington, DC-based National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer advocate. It competitively tests high school students’ knowledge of coansumer awareness, with subjects including personal finance, health and safety, consumer rights and responsibility, technology, and the environment.

Teens from each of the 32 state champion teams represented at nationals competed as individuals, and the top five scorers received $500 scholarships from NCL. This year’s winners were:

• Environment: Morgan Macumber, AZ

• Personal Finance: Christopher Carsey, AZ

• Health and Safety: Maura Taylor, MD

• Consumer Rights and Responsibilities: Noah Shute, AZ

• Technology: Nathaniel Anderson, TN

“NCL’s LifeSmarts program is allowing us to rear a generation of consumer-savvy teenagers who often outsmart their parents on issues related to avoiding fraud, credit and debt, and complicated health care decisions,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. In the 18 years that LifeSmarts has been educating high school and middle school teens on consumer issues, it has grown dramatically, with more than 3 million consumer questions at www.lifesmarts.org in the online competition during the 2011-2012 academic year.

Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden addressed the consumer savvy state teams and helped crown Maryland the 2012 National LifeSmarts Champions. "I'd like to start by congratulating the winners from the state of Maryland who I had the privilege of sitting with. Congratulations, Maryland."

Biden applauded the state champion teams for "being so engaged and educated about your finances and how to be a good consumer and how to teach your brothers and sisters and classmates and sometimes your parents. You have to know what your rights are, and what you’re entitled to. We deal with people all the time who don’t feel empowered to question the negative answer or nonresponse. Behind the 10,000 or so complaints my office receives are, I’m confident, many times more citizens who don’t know what their rights are. That’s why what we do here is so critical, not just for young people but for old people.

For team photos, event schedules, grid standings, and more, log on to the official event blog.

All winners at the national LifeSmarts Competition received valuable prizes donated by sponsors to the National Consumers League, including scholarships, gift cards, and more. To learn more about the program, contact NCL's Lisa Hertzberg at 202-835-3323. For a complete listing of this year's prizes, visit www.lifesmarts.org.

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About LifeSmarts and the National Consumers League

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League. State coordinators run the programs on a volunteer basis. For more information, visit: www.lifesmarts.org, email  lifesmarts@nclnet.org , or call the National Consumers League's communications department at 202-835-3323. The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America's pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Finals live!

Watch now: Maryland vs. Florida www.lifesmarts.org!

Semi-finals over! Up next: MD vs. FL in final match!

UPDATE: Maryland has knocked out Rhode Island and will face Florida in the finals, streaming live at www.lifesmarts.org!


UPDATE: Florida has knocked out Pennsylvania and will move on to the finals! Now watching Maryland and Rhode Island battle it out for a chance to face off with Florida.

If you're not watching already, head over here to check out the action live! First up: Pennsylvania and Florida!

Final day about to begin

Our VIP officials - including Philadelphia CBS consumer reporter Jim Donovan, Head Judge Nancy Tippett of Toyota Financial Services, Western Union's Shelley Bernhardt, and others - are reviewing competition materials and getting ready to spring into action in the first match-up between Florida and Pennsylvania. Check out the live streaming at www.lifesmarts.org!

LifeSmarts Dance Party in progress

Togas optional

Go Team LifeSmarts!

We love our State Coordinators!

Meet the semi-finalists

Florida's Paxon Advanced Studies faces Pennsylvania's Dallas High School.

Florida

Pennsylvania

Battle of the northeast: Barrington High School in Rhode Island facing Maryland Home Schoolers from Frederick.

Rhode Island

Maryland

Final 4 determined!

The scores are in! Final four semi-finalists are:

Maryland, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Don't forget to watch the action live online tomorrow starting at 9 am at www.lifesmarts.org

Top 8 teams are revealed

Quarterfinals are on!

The following match-ups between the Elite 8 are about to begin! Check back for updates!

Washington vs. Florida

Pennsylvania vs. New Hampshire

Maryland vs. Arizona

New York vs. Rhode Island

The big reveal

We are moments away from the reveal of the top 8 teams. Who will be eliminated and who will advance? EEEEEK!

Thanks, Coordinators

Brenda Shuler (CT), Gwen Worlds (FL), Kathleen Belanger (NH)

Our wonderful LifeSmarts state partners organize and implement LifeSmarts at the state level -- which includes marketing and promoting LifeSmarts in their states, serving as the local contact for their state's coaches, and planning and conducting the annual in-person state LifeSmarts competition -- and many of them travel to the national championship to help serve as officials and root for their teams.

LifeSmarts Coordinators do so much for us. Thanks, you guys!

Thank you, Coordinators!

Awesome alumni getting in on the action

They just can't say goodbye -- and we are so grateful for it! Former LifeSmarts super stars Evan, from Kansas, and Hafsa, from Connecticut, lent us their valuable time at the 2012 National LifeSmarts Championship, snapping photos, tweeting scores, and making the LifeSmarts staff work room a funner -- and funnier -- place to be.

Thanks, you guys!

Evan, whipping up some magic tweets.

Hafsa, second from left, with this year's Connecticut state champs.

Vote for your favorite shirt!

Make sure to vote for your favorite tshirt for the People's Choice award. Ballots are available at registration and the deadline is noon Monday!

Arizona team 'having a blast'

Send us your photos!

Making new friends, reconnecting with old ones, and capturing memories at the 2012 National LifeSmarts Championship? Be sure to share your best pictures with us! Post them on our Facebook page, or email them to media@nclnet.org so we can share the LifeSmarts love!

Shout out to LifeSmarts sponsors

The LifeSmarts program wouldn't be possible without generous contributions from all our sponsors. The 2012 LifeSmarts National Championship is sponsored by:

Underwriter
Visa

Lead Sponsor
Western Union

LifeSmarts Champion
American Century Investments Foundation
Google

Team Builder
McNeil Consumer Healthcare
Toyota Financial Services

Question Master
Bridgestone Retail Operations
Experian

Expert
American Express
CBM Credit Education Foundation

Scorekeeper
Underwriters Laboratories

Day One standings