Interview with Arizona Champs

Our friends at NextGenWeb have posted an interview with the new 2008 National LifeSmarts Champions on their site.

LifeSmarts on YouTube! We've made it to the big time!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Shhh! LifeSmarts staff is sleeping!

What a fun LifeSmarts National Championship event! Minneapolis was a fantastic host city, and we were thrilled to have 29 state champion teams travel to the Twin Cities, braving the threat of winter weather, to compete for the national title. We are so proud of all you guys and grateful to the coaches, coordinators, volunteer officials, awesome guest speakers, and our generous sponsors for making this program a success!

In the next day or two, we'll post a link to the 2008 National Champion slide show, which has some beautiful -- and sometimes hilarious -- images capturing the four days of fun at the Millennium Hotel. In the meantime, post or send us your stories and photos from nationals. We want to hear from you!

Arizona Takes the Title!

The Flagstaff Home Educators from Arizona have defeated Illinois' West Chicago Community High School in the 2008 National LifeSmarts Championship!

Introducing the 2008 National LifeSmarts Champion team:

Flagstaff Home Educators
Jennifer Bearchell, coach
Jan Robison, co-coach
Zach Schierl, captain
Reanna Toenjes
Emily Bearchell
Jake Robison
Michael Swift

Way to go, guys!

And Then There Were Two

We're just minutes away from the 2008 National LifeSmarts Championship!

It'll be Illinois vs. Arizona in the final match. Illinois, who made its way through the Winners Bracket, and Arizona, who was knocked down in a match yesterday but re-emerged late Monday.

It's gonna be a real nail-biter! Check it out here, streaming live, RIGHT NOW at NextGenWeb!

Illinois Headed to Finals!

Currently underway:

Arizona's Flagstaff Home Educators, coached by Jennifer Bearchell battling New Hampshire's Sullivan County 4-H, coached by Nancy Berry.

It's Almost Trophy Time ...

Semi-Finals Begin!

First up: Illinois vs. Virginia

Don Zabelin's team from West Chicago Community High School is up against Hilary Parr's team from Spotsylvania High School. The tension is thick in this competition ballroom. Eeek!

LifeSmarts Makes News Again!

The U.S. News and World Report's Alpha Consumer blog has dedicated an entire post to the 2008 National LifeSmarts Championship. Want to see how you measure up to the LifeSmarts participants? The blog includes sample LifeSmarts questions. Test out your knowledge on the blog.

Teams in Action

The competition is fierce! Here are more competition photos, including some shots from this morning.

This Just In! Tuesday Matches Set

The four Semi-Finalists have been determined!

Matches start at 9 am tomorrow.

Virginia vs. Illinois
New Hampshire vs. Arizona

VA, NH Headed to Semi-Finals!

Virginia and New Hampshire have made their way through the Winners Bracket and are headed to tomorrow's semi-finals. Still to be determined in the Consolation Bracket are the other two semi-finalists, which will be revealed in the next hour by matches currently underway between:

Rhode Island vs. Tennessee
Illinois vs. Missouri
Kentucky vs. Arizona
Massachusetts vs. Kansas

Hanging Out

Smiles all around! See the players enjoying some downtime in between competitions.