Looking for Resources for Middle and High School Students?
LifeSmarts.org may be your answer
LifeSmarts Consumer Challenge is an educational program of the National Consumer’s League (NCL) to assist teens and tweens in developing consumer and marketplace skills. The program is designed to complement curriculums in middle and high school. Yet it is flexible enough to use not only in the classroom but also as an activity with groups, clubs and community organizations. Many more resources have been added this year to stimulate students to think critically and to assist educators with ready-to-use materials.
LifeSmarts competitions are run in a game-show style somewhat similar to Jeopardy. Teams of students in grades 6–12 compete first in online, and then in state level matches, with high school winners from each state continuing on to a national competition. The National LifeSmarts competition is held in a different city each year for participants to learn about various areas of the country.
LifeSmarts focuses on five areas of consumer knowledge:
- Personal Finance
- Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
- Health and Safety
- Technology
- The Environment
Teens and tweens who participate gain meaningful consumer knowledge, access to information, and awareness of resources. Participants also develop leadership abilities, become better decision-makers, and have fun in the process.
The schedule for the 2012 competition is:
| August 1, 2011: | Coaches begin to register on-line |
| September 15, 2011: | Teens begin to compete on-line |
| February 10, 2012: | Varsity LifeSmarts state competition (high school) |
| April 21 – 24, 2012: | National Competition – Philadelphia, PA |
| May (date TBA): | Junior Varsity LifeSmarts on-line competition (middle school) |
A new program called TeamSmarts assists students in continually studying the various topics. Each month the program will focus on a specific LifeSmarts topic. Teams work to complete a 100 question quiz competing with other teams across the country. Top-scoring teams will receive monthly prizes from NCL. For more details check LifeSmarts.org and click on the TeamSmarts area. The topic for each month is scheduled as:
| September | Environment |
| October | Personal Finance |
| November | Consumer Rights & Responsibilities |
| December | Technology |
| January | Health & Safety |
| February | Environment |
February also has an all topics, 200 question, practice for the state competition. Student teams may choose to participate in as many months as they would like.
For further Information:
| Check: | www.lifesmarts.org |
| Contact: | Joan Kinney joan.kinney@sbcglobal.net (608) 233-6407 |
| Bill Wilcox wewilcox@cbmfoundation.org (608) 663-5000 |
For Coach’s Guide: Email Bill at wewilcox@cbmfoundation.org
Joan is willing to work with students, teachers, administrators, PTOs, etc. to help start a program. Most Wisconsin costs for travel, etc. are covered by sponsors.
Wisconsin LifeSmarts is sponsored by: CBM Credit Education Foundation, Inc.