Cumberland Valley High School team from Pennsylvania takes 2022 National LifeSmarts Championship in Washington, DC
April 26, 2022
Contact: National Consumers League, Katie Brown, (202) 207-2832, katie@nclnet.org
Washington, DC—The Varsity Wild Card 2 team from Cumberland Valley High School coached by Anne Marie Miller, was crowned the 2022 National LifeSmarts Champions in Washington, D.C. last week. In a close match against the team from Montgomery High School in New Jersey, the teens from the Cumberland Valley High School outplayed their opponents in an exciting end to the four-day competition.
2022 Team members include: Captain Anaya Kurup, Owen Reeves, Zade Elamir, David Cameron, and Derek Works. New Jersey finished in second place, and teams from Idaho and Wisconsin tied for third. Fourth place team honors went to state champions from North Carolina, Arizona, Washington, and Varsity Wild Card 1 from North East High School in Pennsylvania.
“We are so proud of these students from Pennsylvania, this is the first time a Wild Card team has taken the championship,” 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 an education and scholarship program run by the Washington, DC-based National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer advocacy organization. It competitively tests high school students’ knowledge of consumer awareness, with subjects including personal finance, health and safety, consumer rights and responsibility, technology and workforce preparation, and the environment. LifeSmarts is available in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in partnership programs with student leadership programs FBLA, 4H, FCCLA and SkillsUSA.
Each of the students on the first place teams receives a $1,500.00 scholarship, second place team members receive $1,000.00 scholarships and third place team members receive $750 scholarships.
Fourth place team members received gift cards.
Teens from each of the 38 champion teams represented at nationals competed as individuals, and the top five scorers received scholarships from NCL. This year’s winners were:
The 2022 winners in the Individual Category Assessments receiving a $500 scholarship were:
Environment: Catherine Feng from New Jersey
Personal Finance: Lucas Carver from Pennsylvania
Health and Safety: Julissa Freeman from Alabama
Consumer Rights and Responsibilities: Kyle Kintz from Pennsylvania
Technology and Workforce Preparation: Grace Ren from New Jersey
Clayton Adams from 4-H Wild Card team 1 from Madison County 4-H in Georgia, and Melissa Fraga from Florida’s Leto 4-H Gold team were honored as the 2021-2022 LifeSmarts Students of the Year.
LifeSmarts Coaches of the Year Awards went to Linda Huebner from FCCLA Wild Card 3 in Bartlett, Texas and Greg Henning of Varsity Wild Card team 1, North East High School in Pennsylvania.
Kim Edmonds from Virginia was named LifeSmarts State Coordinator of the Year.
Co – state coordinator of the year is Cherry Dale, Virginia Credit Union – Financial Education Director.
The Sarah Weinberg Memorial Scholarship, given each year to a student who demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to community service, was awarded this year to Sadie Heckert of Neligh Junior/Senior High School from Nebraska.
Johnson & Johnson Over the Counter Medication Mentor $1000 scholarships were awarded to students who participated in the health and safety-related youth mentoring program sponsored by LifeSmarts and Johnson and Johnson. Honorees were: Wheaten Smith from Arizona, Alyssa Goldman from Madison County 4-H in Georgia, Alexis Johnson from SkillsUSA Wild Card in Wyoming, Abigail Olstrup from Texas, and Angie Jacobo from Illinois.
The UL Be Safe Buy Real Digital Poster contest winners were: Jackson Miller, Arizona; Gabrielle Alljets, Colorado; Alex Runyan form Georgia; Sean Slattery from Illinois; Miles Flack from Minnesota; Levi Frisbie from Missouri; Aspen Busby from Texas; Abigail Olstrup from Texas; Michaela Joy Patterson from Texas; and Max Butler from Virginia.
NortonLifeLock Identity Theft Essay Contest winners were Julissa Freeman from Alabama, Sara Abernathy from Georgia, Alison Sporleder from Missouri, Tommy Wild from North Carolina, and Suzette Mejia from SkillsUSA Wild Card in Wyoming.
The Spirit of LifeSmarts Team Award, in honor of the late North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, was awarded to Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas.
Seventy graduating seniors were presented with LifeSmarts Honor Cords to wear at their upcoming high school graduations and were welcomed as new LifeSmarts alumni. Additionally, several alumni assisted in various roles throughout the event.
Many teams competed in the February TeamSmarts Capstone quiz. Each of these teams earned a $100 cash award for their high scores.
The Varsity winner is Tescott High School in Kansas; the FBLA winner is UDHS_GormanBroker from Upper Dublin Senior High School in Pennsylvania; the FCCLA winner is Thedford High School FCCLA in Nebraska; and the 4-H winner is WYSIWYG from Hnerico County 4-H in Virginia.
Teams from 12 states submitted designs for this year’s t-shirt contest. This year’s judge’s awards went to 4-H Wild Card 3 – Columbia County 4-H from Georgia, Indiana, and the the People’s Choice t-shirt award went to Washington.
Missed the excitement? You can still watch the exciting final day of competition here.
All winners at the national LifeSmarts Competition received valuable prizes donated by sponsors to the National Consumers League, including scholarships, savings bonds, gift cards, and more.
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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.
