IOLANI SCHOOL WINS THE 2018 HAWAII LIFESMARTS STATE COMPETITION

Posted on Feb 3, 2018 in News Releases

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS

DAVID Y. IGE
GOVERNOR

CATHERINE P. AWAKUNI COLÓN
DIRECTOR

TY Y. NOHARA
SECURITIES COMMISSIONER

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 3, 2018

IOLANI SCHOOL WINS THE 2018 HAWAII LIFESMARTS STATE COMPETITION

HONOLULU – The team from Iolani School won the 14th annual Hawaii LifeSmarts state competition today.  The game-show style competition, which was held at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Campus Center Ballroom, tested the students on their knowledge of personal finance, health and safety, the environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities.

Iolani, Maryknoll, Roosevelt and Waiakea High Schools earned their spot at today’s competition by being the top four scoring teams from the preliminary online competition. Today’s in-person competition consisted of written tests, a “speed smarts” activity, and gameshow style buzzer rounds.  As the 2018 state champions, Iolani School will go on to represent Hawaii at the National LifeSmarts Competition in San Diego, California from April 21 – 24, 2018.  The team was coached by James Rubasch.  Members of the team are: Kevan Elias (team captain), Bryson Choy, Norton Kishi, Sean Callahan, and Vance Hamada.

“It’s great to see how much the Hawaii LifeSmarts program has grown,” said Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) Director Catherine Awakuni Colón.  “Since 2004, DCCA has enrolled over 1,400 high school students and 139 coaches from across the state. This year, we saw our largest enrollment in the JV program with 234 students signed up.  We congratulate all the teams that participated today and we wish Iolani the very best as they go on to represent our state at the national competition in April.”

“We are very proud of all the students and coaches who participated in the Hawaii LifeSmarts program this year,” said Securities Commissioner Ty Nohara.  “We work hard to ensure a quality program and it wouldn’t be possible without our staff, volunteers, and especially our generous sponsors.”

LifeSmarts is a free educational program that prepares students to enter the real world as smart consumers by teaching them the skills needed to succeed in today’s global marketplace. The program was created by the National Consumers League and sponsored locally by the DCCA Office of the Securities Commissioner, in partnership with the Hawaii Credit Union League.

Local sponsors for the 2018 Hawaii State Competition include:

  • Aloha Pacific Federal Credit Union
  • Better Business Bureau Northwest + Pacific
  • Big Island Federal Credit Union
  • Butigroove
  • Cisco
  • Coastal Construction Co., Inc.
  • Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Insurance Division
  • Department of the Attorney General, Crime Prevention and Justice Assistance Division, Community and Crime Prevention Branch
  • Farmers Insurance Hawaii
  • Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), San Francisco Regional Office
  • Hawaii Association of Independent Schools (HAIS)
  • Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union
  • Hawaii Construction Alliance:
    • Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters
    • International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers, Local 1
    • Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 368
    • Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3
    • Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ Union, Local 630
  • Hawaii Council on Economic Education (HCEE)
  • Hawaii Credit Union League
  • Hawaii Dental Service (HDS)
  • Hawaii Government Employees Association AFSCME, Local 152 (HGEA)
  • Hawaii Information MLS
  • Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA)
  • Hawaii Prince Hotel
  • Hawaii State Federal Credit Union
  • Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA)
  • HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union Foundation
  • Honolulu Fire Department Federal Credit Union
  • Kaiser Permanente Hawaii
  • Kualoa Ranch Hawaii, Inc.
  • Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union
  • Oahu Federal Credit Union
  • OtterBox
  • Outrigger Hotels
  • Pasha Group and Pasha Hawaii
  • Schofield Federal Credit Union
  • Toshiba Business Solutions
  • United Public Workers AFSCME, Local 646 AFL-CIO (UPW)
  • University of Hawaii at Manoa Financial Literacy Program
  • University of Hawaii at Manoa Shidler College of Business Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE)

Visit www.lifesmartshawaii.com/ for more information.

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Media Contact: 
William Nhieu
Communications Officer
Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
Email: [email protected]
Office: (808) 587-7582
Cell: (808) 389-2788