NCL thanks Western Union for underwriting LifeSmarts study aid – National Consumers League

November 1, 2010

Washington, DC – With the 2010-2011 National LifeSmarts Competition well underway in high school classrooms across the country, the National Consumers League has announced a new study aid for coaches and students prepping for nationals: the Question-of-the-Day Calendar. Covering a range of subjects from health and safety to personal finance and the environment, the LifeSmarts Question-of-the-Day Calendars are underwritten by major companies, government agencies, and organizations. The November calendar, featuring practice questions with an emphasis on consumer rights and responsibilities, was sponsored by Western Union.

Each month, the official LifeSmarts Web site (www.lifesmarts.org) features a calendar containing dozens of retired competition questions for use as a study aid. The LifeSmarts daily calendars provide one challenge question related to the monthly topic area for each school day.

“Teachers and coaches may use the calendar questions to spur class discussion by asking one question per day, developing a mini-quiz given weekly, or running a simulated LifeSmarts competition,” said LifeSmarts Program Director Lisa Hertzberg. “We are grateful for Western Union’s support in making this resource available to students and coaches who are spending this fall prepping to compete in the online and state competitions for a shot at the 2011 National LifeSmarts Championship event in Los Angeles in April.”

LifeSmarts–the ultimate consumer challenge–is an educational opportunity that develops the consumer and marketplace knowledge and skills of teenagers in a fun way and rewards them for the knowledge they demonstrate. The program complements the curriculum already in place in high schools and can be used as an activity for classes, groups, clubs, and community organizations. LifeSmarts, run as a game-show style competition, is open to all teens in the U.S. in high school and middle school.

LifeSmarts topics have been chosen to encourage and reward knowledge in the areas that matter most to consumers and workers in today’s marketplace: personal finance; health and safety; the environment; technology; and consumer rights and responsibilities.

In LifeSmarts, teams of four to five teens, coached by an adult participant, compete in district and state matches with the state winners going to the national competition to vie for the national LifeSmarts title. The National Consumers League will host the 17^th annual LifeSmarts National Competition in Los Angeles, California from April 30 – May 3, 2011.

The National Consumers League appreciates the financial support that makes LifeSmarts possible, which allows us to provide this program at no charge to teens and adult coaches. Our sponsors — community-minded businesses, associations, labor unions, government agencies, other organizations and individuals — understand the benefits of providing meaningful consumer education for young adults.

Western Union has been a major LifeSmarts sponsor in recent years. In 2009 Western Union provided an unrestricted education grant to NCL to develop three LifeSmarts U lessons focusing on fraud awareness and prevention. LifeSmarts U provides interactive online learning for individual students and classrooms across the United States.

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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.