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