LifeSmarts recognizes student scholarship recipients from ‘Year of Health and Safety’ project – National Consumers League

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August 14, 2018

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—LifeSmarts, a national consumer literacy educational program and scholarship opportunity for students in grades 6-12, has announced this year’s student leaders who have been awarded scholarships for their outstanding participation in the LifeSmarts OTC Medicine Safety Mentoring Project, a program offered during LifeSmarts’ Year of Health and Safety.

The OTC Medicine Safety Mentoring Project was unveiled in 2017 and offered as a community service opportunity to this year’s LifeSmarts participants and was underwritten by a grant from Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. Through the program, LifeSmarts provided materials and curriculum, bolstered by educational resources produced by Scholastic, that enabled high school students to become mentors for middle school students to help them understand the wise use and safe storage of over-the-counter medicines.

“We are so pleased with the success of the ‘Year of Health and Safety’ and the OTC Medicine Safety Mentoring Project,” said national LifeSmarts Program Director Lisa Hertzberg. “We know LifeSmarts gives students the skills they need to succeed as adults, and we see students applying what they learn immediately at home and in their communities. We were thrilled to see our students participate in this program and the enthusiasm and creativity they exhibited in serving as student mentors to pre-teens on these crucial health and safety lessons.”

2018 Safety Mentoring Scholarship Winners

More than 500 LifeSmarts students participated in the program making presentations and holding events that reached tens of thousands of middle school students and community members across the country. Student participants submitted applications about their experiences to the National Consumers League. Scholarship criteria included the number of presentations, community impact, and a personal reflective statement, with the winners receiving a $1,000 post-secondary education scholarship. This year’s recipients are:

  • Victoria Lowrance: LaFayette, GA (12th grade)
  • Samantha Martinez: Waterbury, CT (10th grade)
  • Kejsi Ozuni: Waterbury, CT (10th grade)
  • Raymond Perez: Dallas, PA (11th grade)
  • Hannah Wolfe: Dallas, PA (10th grade)

Besides health and safety, LifeSmarts focuses on four other main content areas: consumer rights and responsibilities, personal finance, technology, and the environment. Students are quizzed on their knowledge of these subject areas during online competition. Top-performing teams then advance to statewide competitions, and state champion teams advance to the national championship held each year in a different American city. The 2018 National LifeSmarts Championship took place April 21-24 in San Diego, where the state champion team from Pennsylvania was declared this year’s national champion team. Scholarship recipients Raymond Perez and Hannah Wolfe were on this year’s national champion team.

Last year, students answered more than 3.5 million consumer questions about credit reports, recycling, nutrition, social media, state lemon laws, and everything in between. More than 140,000 students participated in the program in the 2017-18 season. LifeSmarts is active in all states and the District of Columbia, where NCL is headquartered.

“Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. is proud to be a long-standing supporter of the LifeSmarts program and thrilled about the OTC Medicine Safety Mentoring project. As a manufacturer of over-the-counter medicines, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. believes that the LifeSmarts OTC Medicine Safety Mentoring Project can help instill a healthy respect for all medicines in adolescents by teaching core concepts on the responsible use and safe storage of medicines. In doing so, we are building a healthier future for our adolescents, and helping to prevent medicine misuse, errors, and adverse events,” said Ed Kuffner M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Johnson & Johnson Consumer.

Visit LifeSmarts.org for more information.

LifeSmarts: Learn it. Live it.

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About LifeSmarts

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League. State coordinators run the programs on a volunteer basis. For more information, visit: 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.

San Diego to host 2018 National LifeSmarts Championship event April 21-24 – National Consumers League

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April 17, 2018

24th annual national teen consumer literacy competition will feature 33 state champion teams

For immediate release: April 17, 2018
Contact: Carol McKay, National Consumers League, carolm@nclnet.org, (724) 799-5392

Washington, DC — In celebration of Financial Literacy Month in April, the National Consumers League (NCL) has announced the 33 state champion teams that have earned a spot at the 2018 National LifeSmarts Championship, which will take place starting later this month in San Diego, California. The event will kick off Saturday, April 21, at 5 pm at the Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa.

LifeSmarts (LifeSmarts.org) is a national consumer literacy scholarship competition, celebrating its 24th season this year, hosted by NCL, the nation’s oldest consumer watchdog organization. The 2018 National LifeSmarts Champion team will be crowned on Tuesday, April 24.

Complete roster of state champions teams available here and listed below.

LifeSmarts is a competitive educational and scholarship program, in which teams of students begin online. Top-scorers progress to their state competitions, and then state champion teams meet each April to compete in the National LifeSmarts Championship. This year’s state champion teams hail from as far away as from Portland, Maine, and from as nearby as Los Angeles.

Consumer-savvy teens representing 30 states, the District of Columbia, and two wild card teams, will compete at this year’s national event. Throughout the 2017-2018 program year, more than 100,000 teens competed online for a chance to represent their states at the 2018 National LifeSmarts Championship. Players answered more than 3 million consumer questions in the online competition.

“We are so proud of this year’s state LifeSmarts champions, who have proven themselves to be the best and the brightest of the next generation of consumers,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL executive director. “LifeSmarts is fun, engaging, and the perfect vehicle for educating young consumers. Our program goes in-depth on the issues kids—and adults—are facing now: finances, health care, the environment, and technology.”

The 2018 National LifeSmarts Champion and other winning teams will walk away with prizes and scholarships. In addition to placing as a team, individual students have the opportunity to compete for scholarships by demonstrating knowledge in specific program topic areas. The top eight placing teams and top five individuals are recognized.

This season, LifeSmarts celebrated “The Year of Health and Safety,” focusing on health-related resources, learning activities, and special competitive opportunities, underwritten by a grant from Johnson & Johnson. This season, LifeSmarts unveiled the LifeSmarts OTC Medicine Safety Mentoring Project as a community service opportunity for its high school student participants to become mentors for middle school students on the wise use and safe storage of over-the- counter medicines. At the national event, NCL will award scholarships to winning participants from the Mentoring Project.

NCL thanks the sponsors who make the program possible including Johnson & Johnson, Comcast NBCUniversal, UL, Western Union, American Express, Experian, and Intuit.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY

Event kickoff + weekend activities
When: Saturday, April 21, 2018 at 5 pm through Monday, April 23
Where: Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa, 1775 East Mission Bay Drive, San Diego, 92109

Final competitions

When: Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Matches begin: 9 am Pacific
Awards Ceremony: 11:30 am – 1:00 pm Pacific
Where: Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa, 1775 East Mission Bay Drive, San Diego, 92109

Follow the competition online

Parents and teachers can follow the action at Facebook.com/LifeSmarts and via Twitter: #LifeSmarts
The semi-final and final competition matches will be streamed live at LifeSmarts.org onTuesday, April 24, 2018 starting at 9 am Pacific Time

2018 LifeSmarts State Champions

Alabama (Tuscaloosa): Central High School, Coach: Roslyn Evans
Arizona (Flagstaff): Flagstaff Home Educators, Coach: Christina Blanchard
California (Los Angeles): Lincoln High School, Coach: Wendy Estrada
Colorado (Colorado Springs): Vista Ridge High School, Coach: Sahvanna Mease
Connecticut (Waterbury): Crosby High School, Coach: Kelly Donohue
Delaware (Wilmington): Salesianum School, Coach: George Horn
District of Columbia: McKinley Technology High School, Coach: Sarah Elwell
Florida (Jacksonville): Paxon School for Advanced Studies, Coach: Melissa Decker
Georgia (Douglasville): Douglas County 4-H, Coach: Rose Smith
Hawaii (Honolulu): Iolani School, Coach: James Rubasch
Illinois (West Chicago): West Chicago High School, Coach: Don Zabelin
Indiana (Brookville): Franklin County High School, Coach: Diana Slaven
Kansas (Wichita): Maize South High School, Coach: Jean Conkling
Louisiana (Lafayette): Acadiana High School, Coach: Stephanie Bennett
Maine (Portland): Wayneflete School, Coach: Steve Withers
Massachusetts (Milton): Milton High School, Coach: Paul Arenburg
Michigan (Fenton): Fenton High School, Coach: Bruce Burwitz
Minnesota (Lake Crystal): Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Secondary School, Coach: Michelle Missling
Missouri (Jefferson City): Blair Oaks High School, Coach: Linda Cumpton
New Hampshire (Canaan): Mascoma Valley Regional High School, Coach: Shawn Joyce
North Carolina (Morehead City): West Carteret High School, Coach: Mark Thompson
North Dakota (Jamestown): Jamestown High School, Coach: Marchel Krieger
Oklahoma (Pryor): Pryor High School, Coach: Sharon Rash
Pennsylvania (Dallas): Dallas High School, Coach: Kevin West
Rhode Island (Barrington): Barrington High School, Coach: Samuel Schachter
Texas (Mesquite): John Horn High School, Coach: Brenda Breedlove
Virginia (Fredericksburg): Massaponax High School, Coach: Ginger Walters
Washington (Olympia): Capital High School, Coach: Katie Turcotte
West Virginia (Ellenboro): Ritchie County High School, Coach: Sonya Haught
Wisconsin (Oconto): Oconto High School, Coach: Scot Neu
Wyoming (Buffalo): Buffalo High School, Coach: Kami Kennedy 

Qualified for the LifeSmarts National Championship through the Automatic Bid process:

Wild Card #1: Liberty County 4-H, Hinesville, Georgia, Coach: Gypsy Tart
Wild Card #2: Walker County 4-H, LaFayette, Georgia, Coach: Casey Hobbs

 

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About the National Consumers League and LifeSmarts

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.

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.

Florida takes national LifeSmarts title in 2015 – National Consumers League

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This post originally appeared on LifeSmarts.org. LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League.

What an exciting conclusion to our 21st year! Florida topped Rhode Island by the slimmest of margins – just 2 points – to win the National LifeSmarts Championship last week in Seattle, WA.

Congratulations to coach Kathy Loggie and her LifeSmarts team from Paxon School for Advanced Studies in Jacksonville, Florida. Team members Harrison Andrew, Joseph Cain, Aaron Routzong, Evan Spaulding, and Captain Nicholas Pellegrino are to be commended for the consumer smarts they demonstrated throughout competition.

Team members each received $1,000 post-secondary education scholarships from Amazon.com and Western Union, and Microsoft Surface Tablets.

I also want to commend the other top-placing teams who competed deep into the national championship:

Second Place: Rhode Island; Barrington High School, Barrington, RI

Coach: Samuel Schachter

Captain: Matthew Lamontagne; Team members: Steven Forte, Brian McGartoll, Teddy Ni, and Eli Shea

Third Place: Hawaii; ‘Iolani High School, Honolulu, HI

Coach: James Rubasch

Captain: Justus Wataru; Team members: Noah Asada, Matthew Azama, Norton Kishi, Bailey Sylvester

Third Place (tied): Michigan; Fenton High School, Fenton, MI

Coach: Bruce Burwitz, Co-coach: Andy Cocagne

Captain: Jacob Goodman; Team members: Andrew Celini, Katherine Hiller, Kelsey Krause, Zachary Williams

To begin to appreciate the broad consumer knowledge students gain by participating in LifeSmarts, here are a few of the questions the Florida and Rhode Island teams tackled in the national finals:

  1. When college students apply for financial aid, they should complete this form to determine their family’s expected contribution to their education: (Answer: FAFSA; Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
  2. Why is texting while driving considered the most dangerous form of distracted driving? (Answer: It requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver; drivers have to take their eyes, hands, and mind off of the road)
  3. How do consumers react when consumer confidence is going up? (Answer: Consumers spend more freely)
  4. Name one advantage of using DRM? (Answer: Fights copyright infringement; helps ensure digital content is legitimate)
  5. Harmful “germs” or disease-causing microorganisms are called: (Answer: Pathogens)
  6. Name two ways consumers can help conserve water in the yard: (Answers: Irrigate more efficiently; use water-wise plants; improve the soil; harvest rainwater; use graywater instead of potable water on plants; design a more water-efficient landscape)

We often remind students and coaches that they are all winners in LifeSmarts. We sincerely believe it. I hope that the journey to learning more about consumer issues has been a fantastic one for all of our competitors this year!

Remember: LifeSmarts resources remain available year-round at LifeSmarts.org, and competition begins again after Labor Day!

The LifeSmarts Safety Smart connection – National Consumers League

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This post originally appeared on LifeSmarts.org. LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League.

For the past two years LifeSmarts has partnered with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) on its Safety Smart® Ambassador program to provide a way for LifeSmarts students to give back through community service. LifeSmarts students become Safety Smart Ambassadors by delivering interactive safety messages to younger children in their communities.

We predicted that the program would be a hit, and that our Ambassadors would learn right along with the children they mentored. We were right on both counts!

Last year LifeSmarts participants in 20 states became Safety Smart Ambassadors. They made more than 200 presentations, educating 4,000 young children.

One Ambassador told us, “Safety Smart is truly an amazing program…  The children that I have had the honor to teach were so interested and appreciative of the information I conveyed via this program.  This program was not only beneficial to the children, but to me as well as I have learned to be confident and assertive in front of people, whether age 5 or 50.”

Our appreciation to UL for this opportunity was summed up by one of our Ambassadors who said, “I want to say thank you to Underwriters Laboratories for getting to do the wonderful Safety Smart program.”

Become a Safety Smart Ambassador!

The resources provided by UL and LifeSmarts make this program easy to use – beginning with the coach lessons plan, a logistics checklist, videos featuring Timon and Pumbaa from Disney’s The Lion King, and four step-by-step lessons that are fun and easy to teach. Titles include:

  • Goes Green!
  • Healthy & Fit
  • Online!
  • Honest & Real!

In a nutshell

The Safety Smart Ambassador program is:

  • Quick and easy: each lesson is designed as a 30-minute presentation
  • Fun: Timon and Pumbaa resonate with young children
  • Educational: Everyone learns
  • Satisfying: LifeSmarts participants give back, serve as mentors, and demonstrate leadership
  • A great fit: The program helps you meet service learning and community service requirements
  • Turnkey: Everything you need is in one place

Wait, there’s more! Apply soon for LifeSmarts Safety Smart scholarships

Four motivated LifeSmarts students who become Safety Smart Ambassadors will win $750 post-secondary education scholarships. To apply, students complete the scholarship application  and submit it with a PowerPoint that highlights their Safety Smart presentations. Ambassadors will illustrate what they learned and what the younger children gained from the Safety Smart Ambassador experience.

Applications for the LifeSmarts Safety Smart scholarships are due by 5 p.m. Eastern, Friday, April 11, 2015. Students may submit an application based on presentations made from May 1, 2014, through April 11, 2015.

Scholarships will be announced on April 18 at the National LifeSmarts Championship in Seattle, WA. Students do not need to attend Nationals to be eligible. All LifeSmarts students in grades 9-12 may apply.

For more information

Visit the Safety Smart page on the LifeSmarts Web site or contact Lisa Hertzberg, LifeSmarts Program Director: lisah@nclnet.org.

Seven tips to creating a winning LifeSmarts team – National Consumers League

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This post originally appeared on the LifeSmarts blog.

Hello all, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Over the break the members of the LifeSmarts team were hard at work making sure that the 2015 Nationals will be the best one yet! In addition to our usual preparation we have put together the top 7 tips to creating a winning LifeSmarts team. Below, I have included a few highlights from our list.

The first tip for a winning team is of course…PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Work with your teammates daily using our quizzes and vocab calendars. When practicing, make sure to use buzzers if at all possible. Buzzers help to simulate live matches and make sure you are following all of the rules correctly.

Another tip includes looking back at previous LifeSmarts questions as well as creating your own questions. By creating your own questions and checking archived questions you will be able to create personal flashcards that help to reinforce knowledge that can be shared with your coach and teammates during practice sessions.

Lastly, USE IT ALL. LifeSmarts.org has tons of resources to help students prepare for competition. For example, be sure to check out our monthly TeamSmarts quizzes, they are a wonderful way to stay ahead of the game.

If you follow these tips, have a positive attitude, and remember to have fun, I guarantee you will be prepared for anything in LifeSmarts!

Check out our LifeSmarts infographic. 

Life Lesson 5: How I Learned to #TurnOutForWhat – National Consumers League

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Seth WoodsOne of the reasons I love LifeSmarts is that we teach teens life lessons the easy way (rather than the hard way). We take that seriously, that’s why our motto is “Learn it. Live it.”

This time, I don’t have a “life lesson” per se, but rather an imposition:

Go vote. And if you’re not yet 18, make sure your friends who can vote do so.

A recent Harvard poll shows that only 26% of voters under 30 plan to cast a ballot on Election Day, a noted drop from two years ago. And while it’s true we’re not voting for a President this time, this year’s elections will be just as important (if not more important).

On the ballot this year are 36 U.S. Senators and all 435 Representatives, who will have the chance to make great changes to government policy. Some of these issues are especially important for teens and millennials:

  • There is a movement to raise the minimum wage to over $10/hour. How would your life be changed if that happened?
  • Health care laws continue to be a controversial issue. What happens to your family if your coverage changes?
  • Millions of credit card numbers have been stolen from major retailers’ databases this year. What should the government do to protect these consumers?
  • What happens if the federal government shuts down again?

Not to mention there are elections for countless state and local offices that will have a greater impact on your life than Congress: state legislators who decide how much money goes to education and health care, county officials who set road budgets and noise ordinances, school board members that could start your school day later or fund your team’s travel to the National LifeSmarts Championship.

Smart consumers are also smart citizens, and it is your obligation to vote. Take this opportunity to speak up and be an active part of your community.

Go vote.

And if you’re not yet 18, make sure your friends who can vote do so.

LifeSmarts celebrates its 20th anniversary at the national championship in Orlando, Florida – National Consumers League

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2Students across the country will travel to Orlando, Florida this weekend for the National LifeSmarts Championship. This tournament marks the 20th anniversary for the program, which arms high school students around the country with the knowledge needed to be savvy consumers and responsible adults. The tournament begins on Saturday and will culminate on Tuesday (4/29) with a live broadcast at LifeSmarts.org of the semi-finals and finals.

Teams representing states around the country, the District of Columbia, and student organizations FCCLA and FBLA will compete for LifeSmarts glory.

These teams began competition online with the top scoring teams participating in live state competitions. Those winners punched their tickets to Orlando and earned an opportunity to be crowned the 2014 National LifeSmarts Champions. Follow the action on our Nationals Scoreboard housed on LifeSmarts’ Facebook page. We will be updating the scoreboard in live time. Follow your state’s team to track their success. You can also follow the action on Twitter using #LifeSmarts. This year marks the second-annual LifeSmarts Twitter contest. Top tweeters throughout the national championship tournament will win prizes.

LifeSmarts 20th anniversary season! Countdown to nationals – National Consumers League

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ls_championship.jpgFor its 20th anniversary year, NCL has launched an all-new, improved, and rebranded LifeSmarts.org, providing new opportunities for participants and cultivating new partnerships. LifeSmarts has a new Web site with better navigation, usability, and social media integration, and a variety of new coaching and study resources, such as ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum podcasts for LifeSmarts, are available on the site, too.

NCL rolled out a major expansion to LifeSmarts in partnership with the global safety science company Underwriters Laboratories, UL, to provide participants with a community service learning opportunity in their communities. LifeSmarts students are becoming Safety Ambassador, sharing environment and safety lessons with elementary school children in classrooms across the nation. More than 1,000 children have participated in presentations made by LifeSmarts students so far, with many more presentations scheduled before nationals.

LifeSmarts has become an official competitive event open to the 250,000 students involved in Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapters. FBLA participants have the opportunity to compete through FBLA or LifeSmarts – and this year hundreds of teams have taken advantage of the two ways to win. One FBLA team will represent FBLA at nationals in an at-large berth, and as many as 10 other state champions teams are comprised of FBLA members.  In addition, the 24 top FBLA teams will advance to compete live at the FBLA National Leadership Conference in June.

The 2014 season is in the home stretch. The majority of state competitions are taking place in February and March, with 20 state champion teams already determined. The 2013 national champion team from Paxon School for Advanced Studies, in Jacksonville, Florida, will return to defend its title.  At last year’s national competition held in Atlanta, the Florida team took home top honors after competing for four days against 38 state champion teams from across the country.

LifeSmarts is an educational competition run by the National Consumers League to test middle school and high school students nationwide on real-life consumer issues through online quizzes and live competition LifeSmarts provides participants with practical advice and information on consumer issues ranging from personal finance and health and safety to the environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities. Starting online each fall, the competition progresses to live state play-offs, and then builds to a high-spirited National Championship.

Over the years, LifeSmarts has steadily grown in numbers of student and adult participants, state partnerships, and corporate sponsorships. In the most recent season, an estimated 125,000 students and teachers across the country formed nearly 2,000 LifeSmarts teams and answered more than 3.5 million LifeSmarts questions.

This year, LifeSmarts state champion teams from across the country will be treated to the Disney experience, staying at a resort in Orlando on the Disney campus, visiting DisneyWorld, and meeting Timon, a beloved character from Disney’s The Lion King, who also stars in the UL Safety Smart videos.

“The National Consumers League’s mission is to inspire confidence and safety in the marketplace. The LifeSmarts program fosters students’ understanding of consumer issues and provides them with real-world knowledge they will need to take charge of their lives,” said Lisa Hertzberg. “We are looking forward to our best national event ever!”

LifeSmarts 2013: What a competition! – National Consumers League

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After four exciting days of individual assessments, group activities, and team buzzer matches, the Paxon School for Advanced Studies from Jacksonville, Florida outlasted 38 other teams from around the country to claim the title of LifeSmarts champion in the annual national competition. This year’s championship in Atlanta was the biggest competition ever, featuring teams from 35 states, the District of Columbia, and two student organizations, FCCLA and FBLA.

LifeSmarts is a national competition that tests teens around the country on their consumer knowledge. There are five areas of focus including: personal finance, health and safety, consumer rights and responsibilities, the environment, and technology.  LifeSmarts not only gives high school students a chance to demonstrate their consumer acumen, but also provides an opportunity to learn about issues that will prove useful in the real-world. As LifeSmarts participants progress through high school, they will be armed with the practical knowledge needed later in life to protect themselves and their finances.

This year’s competition featured a new collaboration with Underwriter’s Laboratories (UL) called the Safety Smart! Ambassador Program. The Safety Smart! program gives LifeSmarts students the opportunity to reach out to younger students in the community and teach them lessons about health and safety.  These lessons feature a curriculum that teaches young children the benefits of going green and being healthy and fit. Older students have an opportunity to reach out to the elementary school students and gain important life skills such as leadership, public speaking, and the importance of advocacy in the community.

Rhode Island’s entrant, Barrington High School, finished the competition in second place. Dallas High School from Pennsylvania and the Coffee County 4-H school from Tennessee finished tied for third. All participants at the national competition, over 200 students, took an individual assessment in a category of their choice and winners in each received special recognition. The winners were: personal finance, Steven Cotter (FL); health and safety, Isaac Mades (WI); consumer rights and responsibilities, Gates Palissery (PA); the environment, Jack Caljouw (MA); and technology, Ryan Jerue (RI).

This year also marked our first ever Twitter contest. The Twitter competition served as a tool to increase buzz around the national competition and many students, coaches, parents, coordinators, and spectators participated. Three winners were selected for demonstrating both quality and quantity in what was tweeted during competition. The winners were: Alicia Heis (IN), Kennnedy Langton (FBLA), and Tshala Pajibo (DC).

NCL is very excited to announce that next year’s 20th annual national competition will be held in Orlando, Florida. Teams representing every corner of the country from Hawaii to Washington to Maine participated in this year’s event and we believe our ultimate goal of inviting a team to our national competition from all 50 states is within reach.  Educators, financial institutions, attorneys general, governmental organizations, and others see the benefits of the LifeSmarts program and continue to invest in educating the next wave of consumers. Knowledge is power, and consumer knowledge gives students the power to avoid financial pain and make healthy, intelligent life decisions. To find out more about the LifeSmarts competition please see our Web site. To see the LifeSmarts students in action, check out our photo album from this year’s competition.