Teens from Baker High School Take Alabama State LifeSmarts Title

Baker High School beat out Eufaula’s Distributive Education Clubs of America team and captured the State LifeSmarts Championship recently at Auburn University in Montgomery by successfully fielding questions about real-life marketplace issues.

Members of the Baker High School team included Dakota Hollstein, Taylor Gwin, Brody Dunn and Doug Roberts.

LifeSmarts, a consumer education competition that challenges teens in grades 9 through 12 about personal finance, health and safety, the environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities, is a program of the National Consumers League. In Alabama, Bernice B. Wilson of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System runs the program.

Teens from across the state first competed online for a chance to go to the in-person state finals held March 4 at Auburn University in Montgomery. State champion Baker High School of Mobile will represent Alabama at the national LifeSmarts competition in St. Louis, Mo., April 25-28.

“LifeSmarts participants in Alabama have gained many of the consumer smarts they will need to make it in the real world,” said Wilson, “We’re proud to have Baker High School represent us at the 2009 National LifeSmarts Championship in St. Louis!”

The top three teams participating in the state finals included Baker High School, Eufaula DECA and Demopolis High.

“LifeSmarts participants win by learning to avoid common consumer pitfalls, navigate the government and understand credit card jargon before they have to sign on the dotted line,” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League.

This year, Lifesmarts teams were introduced to a new competition activity – team learning skills. “The teams performed these new activities well. I was pleased to see how easily they mastered the new competition concepts. Next year, these activities may become a part of the overall in-state LifeSmarts competition,” added Wilson.

Sponsors for the LifeSmarts competition this year were ACES, Alabama Jump$tart Coalition, Alabama Public Television and State Farm Insurance, Birmingham, Ala.

Source: Dr. Bernice B. Wilson, Extension Specialist, (256) 372- 4969.

Posted by dreynold at April 1, 2009 08:45 AM | TrackBack