National student financial literacy competition opens 2015-16 season – National Consumers League
September 14, 2015
Contact: Cindy Hoang, National Consumers League, cindyh@nclnet.org or (202) 207-2832
Washington, DC – Today marks the official launch of the 22nd season of LifeSmarts, with a new competition going live at the online home of the program, LifeSmarts.org. LifeSmarts, a program of the National Consumers League (NCL), is a national competition for middle school and high school students that tests knowledge of real-life consumer issues and aims to create a future generation of consumer-savvy adults.
“We are very excited to launch our 22nd season of LifeSmarts,” said Program Director Lisa Hertzberg. “LifeSmarts gives students the skills they need to succeed as adults. The knowledge they gain will help them make smart decisions and avoid financial pitfalls when they hit the real world.”
LifeSmarts focuses on five main content areas: consumer rights and responsibilities, personal finance, technology, health and safety, 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 2016 National LifeSmarts Championship will take place April 9-12, in Denver, CO. Winning teams receive scholarships and other prizes.
Last year, students answered more than 3 million consumer questions about credit reports, recycling, nutrition, social media, state lemon laws, and everything in between. By being consumer savvy and quick on the buzzers, the LifeSmarts team from Jacksonville, FL, took home top honors last April at the 21st national event in Seattle.
“We are excited to continue to grow the LifeSmarts program into new states and regions, to educate students about financial literacy and being responsible consumers, and to create a new generation of smart, market-ready consumers and workers,” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of NCL. “Too often traditional high school curriculum fails to teach students vital information that will be crucial once students go to college, get their first job, or move out of their parents’ house.”
In addition to hosting the official LifeSmarts competition, LifeSmarts.org provides resources for teachers to supplement existing lesson plans. These include daily quizzes, educational videos, PowerPoints, focused study guides, and scholarship opportunities. LifeSmarts lessons closely align with courses taught in Family and Consumer Sciences, business, technology, health, and vocational education. Math and English teachers have also had success with LifeSmarts, as have homeschool and community educators.
Major LifeSmarts contributors include: LifeLock, Visa, Western Union, Comcast NBC Universal, Experian, Intuit, Google, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, Amazon.com, American Express Company, Microsoft, and others. Visit LifeSmarts.org for more information. LifeSmarts: Learn it. Live it.
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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.
