Submitted by the Massachusetts team
We are the Wildcats from Milton, Massachusetts. Milton is
one of the top places to live in the country, according to Money Magazine.
Besides our great school system, I think Money Magazine sees that we are a
smaller community less than 10 min. from Boston, have a State Park, The
Blue Hills, for skiing and hiking, and in ten minutes we can be at the
ocean. In the neighboring community, the city of Quincy, you find the
birthplaces of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams. If you check
the statistics in Boston Magazine, they have Milton listed as one of the top
school system in the state.
We also have this really young rapper named Younggod aka
Dmoney. Our school system differs from others as Milton is the home to one of
the few public French Immersion programs in the country which means
you can have all your lessons taught in French in the younger grades
to help you become bi-lingual. We also have the highest concentration
of Irish in the country (40 percent).
Our team members are Jack Caljouw (Sophomore), Aaron
Chiu (Senior), Pat Kelly(Senior), Devon Stanley (Junior), and Mona Yuan,
(Junior). Most of us became involved with Lifesmarts through classes taught by
Mr. Arenburg. He had us doing practice quizzes in our classes. which led to an
interest of a Lifesmarts' club after school.
We have prepared for this competition by practicing with
buzzers, Teamsmarts, and online quizzes. Our key strategy is repetition so we will
be familiar with the tournament format and the questions. However, the Lifesmarts'competition
here in Massachusetts was extremely tough. In the competition we were not
always aware of our score, so we would be really nervous and scared. Our
opponents were CHALLENGING CONTESTANTS, especially since most of them had more experience
than us. In the final round of the state tournament, we were practically tied
with our opposing team until the end. It was really nerve-racking. As a team,
this year was our second time competing at the state level and it will be
our first time at the Nationals.
Our coaches are Mr. Arenburg and Mrs. Mikels. Mr. Arenburg
teaches Personal Finance and Technology. He started Lifesmarts as an extracurricular
activity at our high school in 2006. Mrs. Mikels is a math teacher and has
assisted Mr. Arenburg for the past four years with this club.
We are looking forward to traveling to Philadelphia. Not
only do we get to miss school, we get an extended vacation. We feel honored to
be able to represent the State of Massachusetts and our High School. We are
excited to meet new people and to see how we will do in the competition.
Thank you for hosting us. It should be a great four days.
