Inter-Lakes defends state championship title in NH

By Guest Blogger Dan Hebert, New Hampshire LifeSmarts Coordinator

On March 10th, Inter-lakes High School from Meredith, NH successfully defended its state championship title at the 2010 New Hampshire LifeSmarts State Championship. But the victory did not come easily.

The team from Newfound Regional High School from Bristol, NH – a first-time finalist – overcame first-round jitters by winning the wildcard elimination round followed by a victory in the semi-final round. As soon as their semi-final match concluded, they were back on the stage for the championship match.

Newfound Regional team members - Adam Swain, Chris Woolsey, Tyler Parker, Brooks Bergholm, Justine Bauer and their coaches, Sheila Miller and Susan Blake – battled back and forth with the Inter-Lakes team. The tension and drama increased with every question, and the score remained tied through most of the Challenge Round.

The title was determined by the final question. With Inter-Lakes leading by five points, they buzzed in first, earning the right to answer the question – which they answered incorrectly. Newfound calmly waited for the entire question to be read and then provided an answer that resulted in a long deliberation by the judges. The atmosphere in the room was incredibily tense. The judges ultimately ruled the answer as incorrect, giving Inter-Lakes the victory. The room exploded in excitement and both teams demonstrated an amazing display of good sportsmanship and compassion.

Inter-Lakes team members - Tim Quinney, Ryan Chappuis, Austin Hart, Teddy Willey, Galen Muskat and coach Charles Bates – are now focused on the Nationals in Miami. This year’s state experience should serve them well in the pressure of the national stage.

What’s at stake at this year’s National LifeSmarts Championship

The prizes are in, and the 32 state champion teams will be playing for quite a spread this year.

In addition to the prizes awarded to the top teams this year, there are two new categories of awards at the 2010 National LifeSmarts Championship:

Coach of the Year, which comes with a $500 prize, and five Individual LifeSmarts Topic Winners, each of whom will also receive a $500 college scholarship.

So, more incentive to do some last-minute cramming, eh? The 2010 National LifeSmarts Champion team will walk away with the following:

• $1,000 college scholarship from Experian
• $1,000 savings bond from Western Union
• $100 Staples gift card from AHAM
• $50 Target gift card
• Gifts from Boardroom, Hasbro and Southwestern
• Honorary membership to NCL for one year

And the winning coach will receive:

• $500 Education grant for school/org from DMA
• $100 Midas gift card
• $100 Target gift card
• Gifts from Guittard and Hasbro
• National LifeSmarts Championship trophy

2010 Major Donors

The National Consumers League thanks the following generous sponsors for helping make LifeSmarts the program it is today:

Lead Sponsor
Experian

LifeSmarts Champion
Western Union

Team Builder
American Express
American Century Investments

Question Master
Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC
McNeil Consumer Healthcare
Toyota Financial Services
TracFone Wireless, Inc.

Expert
Reckitt Benckiser
Toy Industry Association, Inc.
Toys ‘R’ Us

Scorekeeper
Underwriters Laboratories

Contributor
NCL also thanks the many sponsors at the Contributor Level

Thanks, LifeSmarts supporters!

NCL thanks the following organizations for donating prizes for the top-placing teams:

Western Union, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Underwriters Laboratories, Toyota Financial Services, Guittard Chocolate Company, Hasbro Games, Midas International Corporation, Southwestern Company


NCL thanks the following organizations for donating goodie-bag items for all participants:

Experian, Western Union, Recording Industry Association of America, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Underwriters Laboratories, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, American Express, Midas International Corporation, International Bottled Water Association

J.P. Stevens High vs. J.P. Stevens High in New Jersey Finals

The New Jersey State LifeSmarts competition is our earliest state event, taking place each November. The following is a recap of last fall’s competition.

By Guest Blogger Casey Dougan, New Jersey Team Captain

The LifeSmarts New Jersey State finals are over, and it was a very interesting competition as a total of six teams fought it out head-to-head at the State semi-finals on November 23, 2009 for the New Jersey State title. After defeating two teams, the John P. Stevens Hawks advanced to the finals—only to be pitted against their sister team, the John P. Stevens Original!

The final round of competition was a very heated and fast-paced event, with both teams deadlocked for most of the rounds. A pair of sisters proudly represented their school, from opposing teams.

Tension was in the air as each sister excitedly waited for her turn, both hoping to beat out the other. As question master, Carol Otis, read each question carefully and precisely, both teams listed intently and were sure to buzz in as soon as they knew the answer. The judges quickly came to decisions about answers and were strict in enforcing the rule that your name must be called before you speak in the team and challenge rounds.

In the end, John P. Stevens Original advanced to the finals and will be representing New Jersey for the second year in a row at the National LifeSmarts Competition in Miami Beach, Florida in April!

2009 Oklahoma state champs return to represent at 2010 National LifeSmarts Championship

By Guest Blogger Denise Morris, Oklahoma State LifeSmarts Coordinator

The state Oklahoma LifeSmarts competition was held in Stillwater, Oklahoma on February 3. Six teams from across the state competed in the day long competition. Competing teams were from Porter H.S., Fairview H.S., Edmond Memorial H.S., Waurika H.S., Ponca City H.S. and Broken Arrow H.S.

The new state LifeSmarts champions are from Porter H.S., coached by Sharon Guidrey. This is the second year in a row that Porter has won the state competition, and two of the state champion team members are returning from last year's team. Porter placed third at the national competition last year.

The state LifeSmarts competition is sponsored by Oklahoma Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. FCCLA is one of seven career and technical student organizations in Oklahoma. We are pleased to add Accent Realty who was a sponsor of this year's LifeSmarts competition. The 2011 state competition will be held February 10th in Stillwater.

Teens from Southern High take Missouri state Varsity LifeSmarts title

Reposted from The Missouri FCCLA Blog

A team from Southern High School in Ellington beat out 12 teams and captured the Missouri State Varsity LifeSmarts Championship by successfully fielding questions about real-life marketplace issues in Jefferson City on February 17.

“The team said it was the BEST DAY EVER. What a joy to get to see them mature into a great team” said their coach, Krista Hampton.LifeSmarts, a consumer education competition that challenges teens in grades 9-12 about personal finance, health and safety, the environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities, is a program of the National Consumers League.

In Missouri, Merilee Thoenen, Supervisor, Family Consumer Sciences and Human Services, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) runs the program. It is coordinated by the Missouri Association of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) and the financial sponsor is American Century Investments of Kansas City.

Teens from across the state first competed online for a chance to go to the in-person state finals held February 17 in Jefferson City. State champions from Southern Reynolds County R-II have qualified for the national LifeSmarts competition to be held in Miami, Florida, April 24-27.

“LifeSmarts participants in Missouri have gained many of the consumer ‘smarts’ they’ll need to make it in the real world,” said State Coordinator, Merilee Thoenen. “We’re proud to have Southern High School represent us at the 2010 National LifeSmarts Championship in Miami.”

Other teams participating in the state finals included 2nd place Ava Victory Academy, 3rd place Linn High School, Sherwood High School in Creighton, Maysville High School, Stanberry High School, Stoutland High School, Ruskin High School in Kansas City, Grandview Senior High School, Hermann High School, Frederick Douglass High School in Columbia and Fort Zumwalt South High School in St. Peters.

Cheney High takes WA state title

Washington State Coordinator Wency Offril, from the Office of the Attorney General, has announced that the winner of the WA state competition is Cheney High School, home of the Blackhawks. Offril reported that AG Rob McKenna stopped by the competition to welcome the students, teachers, and coaches before an exciting day of competition.

Offril thanked her fellow WA State Coordinator Will Rance and his team of WSECU volunteers for their time making the LifeSmarts State Competition a great success.

Offril said she nabbed the chief of the Consumer Protection Division to serve as Question Master at this year’s competition, and he was such a good QM that “he has the job as Question Master from now on--he just does not know that yet!” The secret is safe with us, Wency!

Calling on state champs to pilot our newest resources

The LifeSmarts program of the National Consumers League recently received an unrestricted education grant from Western Union to produce three new LifeSmarts U lessons aimed at educating teens (and their teachers and LifeSmarts coaches) about fraud. We were so excited to have this support from Western Union and the ability to broaden the content within LifeSmarts U.

The first lesson, Fact or Fake Out, is available to pilot at our teaching resources page at lifesmarts.org. We would especially ask state champion coaches to help us pilot the materials and provide us with their feedback at the Coaches meeting on April 24. As extra incentive, coaches (and their teams) will find that the information covered by this lesson shows up throughout the competitions at nationals this year. (In fact, one team activity will be devoted exclusively to fraud.)

The second lesson, which will debut at the national competition, breaks down the components of fraud so that consumers can recognize the tell-tale signs and appreciate how hard some scammers will work to steal their money.

The third lesson gives students practical tips for protecting themselves from fraud, highlights the importance of reporting it, and identifies the agencies that are there to help. After the pilot concludes, all three lessons will be available on the LifeSmarts U portion of the LifeSmarts Web site this summer.

Coaches getting prepped for Nationals format changes

By Lisa Hertzberg, LifeSmarts Program Director

Florida-bound LifeSmarts coaches recently joined conference calls to learn more about the upcoming national competition. The energy and enthusiasm were contagious – now we’re really excited to see you all Miami Beach, FL, later this month!

Format changes were the focus of the calls. To briefly recap:

• All teams compete eight times (four buzzer matches, and four assessments) – and those advancing to the quarterfinals compete even more!
• Point totals are cumulative
• Teams may challenge answers and be awarded points following competition
• Winning teams, individual students, and coaches will all be recognized for high achievement

To learn more, view the PowerPoint at our site and the fact sheet.

As we mentioned on the coach call, students can expect to work hard, and they should realize that they won’t know all the answers (and that’s OK!), but we are certain that they will arrive in Florida ready for the challenge!

Rivalry continues in Rhode Island

By guest blogger Jim Hedemark, RI Jump$tart Coalition Executive Director, Rhode Island LifeSmarts Coordinator

Dreams of Miami Beach, intensified by the rain pouring outside the State House on Friday, March 26th, were set aside in favor of the immediate business of brackets and buzzers as the 2010 Rhode Island LifeSmarts competition got underway. Six teams representing Ocean State high schools from Barrington, Burrillville, Lincoln, North Providence, North Smithfield, and Tolman vied for the prestigious Consumer Cup.

Secretary of State, A. Ralph Mollis who spoke to students during the certificate ceremony about the importance of civic involvement and consumer awareness applauds the program, “I am extremely proud of every one of the students who competed. Their parents should know that their children represented their families and schools tremendously at our State House.”

“March Smartness VI” presented by CollegeBoundfund, as we call our state finals, held all of the excitement of the basketball tournament by a similar name, but thanks to the Verizon Pioneers the food was much healthier than you might find at a sports venue. Along with volunteering as officials, the Pioneers make sure that nutrition isn’t just a LifeSmarts topic at our state finals each year.

More than 20 volunteers gave their time to fill the official duties, including scorekeepers, all accounting majors from Providence College, who would use a lot of ink recording points by Barrington and North Providence … as has been the case in the Ocean State for the six year history of our competition.

The Rhode Island “LifeSmarts Legends” page shows program dominance of these two schools with North Providence winning state titles in ‘05, ‘06, ‘08, and ‘09, and Barrington in ‘07 and ‘10.

In order to claim the 2010 Consumer Cup, Barrington had to beat the defending state champions from North Providence in the final round and again in overtime due to our double-elimination format. North Providence had bested Barrington in the second round of competition earlier in the day. This was a reversal of fortune from the 2009 competition where North Providence pulled off the same difficult feat over Barrington.

As quoted in a great article by Brenna McCabe, Valley Breeze Staff Writer, Barrington Captain Gabrielle Sclafani said, “I’m so excited for this. We came in second three years in a row, and we worked so hard this year.”

Peter Kerwin, spokesperson for CollegeBoundfund, the Rhode Island 529 college savings program reflects on the overtime round, “The only thing more gratifying than the overtime intensity was the 529 question that was posed in the tie-breaker.”

Perhaps Paul Horwitz, FDIC Boston Area Office Community Affairs Specialist, a veteran official at state and national LifeSmarts wraps us memories of March Smartness VI the best …

“It may be that the Consumer Cup and the chance for a trip to Miami Beach were the immediate rewards, but as today’s students become tomorrow’s adults, LifeSmarts competitors will have a significant advantage over their peers. Students involved in LifeSmarts know many of the answers to real life issues, where far too few of their peers may not even understand the questions.”

We look forward to following Barrington at nationals and although two teams in Rhode Island have presented LifeSmarts fans with over half a decade of intense rivalry, I have my eyes on a couple of young programs that will surely bring their best to future state competitions and earn a new home for the Consumer Cup.

Dallas High takes PA title in Harrisburg

By Brandi Williams, LifeSmarts Program Assistant

Coordinated by the Office of the Attorney General in Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state LifeSmarts competition was originally scheduled for February 23. However, due to unexpected weather conditions resulting from “Snowpocalypse 2010” in the northeastern region of the country, the event was rescheduled to March 2.

Extreme weather didn’t stop the nine top-placing Pennsylvania LifeSmarts teams from packing their bags and heading to the capitol city of Harrisburg. The Pennsylvania competition was full of energy and excitement, from students, coaches, and volunteer staff, including members of Attorney General Tom Corbett’s staff. “We have such a great team [of volunteers] here,” said Nina Correale, who works in the Public Protection Division of the PA Office of Attorney General. “Everyone loves this program.”

Seven intense matches of competition led to a final match between Elizabethtown Area High School and Dallas High School. The teams were tied right through the end of the match, with Dallas High School winning the match by a single point.

State coordinator Donna Reinaker and her staff of volunteers ensured that all PA participants had a fun and educational experience. “I am a huge fan of LifeSmarts, and have told the Attorney General that LifeSmarts should be mandatory in high school,” said Brian Roche, consumer reporter for WGAL News 8, in his remarks as Question Master for part of the competition. “This stuff is going to stay with you for the rest of your life. This is why I come back every year.” Check out WGAL’s coverage of the competition here.

Linda William, Chief Deputy Attorney General and Director, was impressed by the breadth of knowledge required by teens in the program. “The questions are fantastic,” Williams said. “One question asked when you should discuss the possibility of a trade-in when buying a car. How great was that?”

As the Pennsylvania State Champions, the Dallas High School team and their coach, Kevin West, have earned the chance to represent their state at the LifeSmarts National Championship in Miami Beach, FL next month, competing against other state champion teams from across the country. We wish them luck, and look forward to seeing them in Miami Beach next month!