News Release: Open Registration Begins for Statewide LifeSmarts Competition

Posted on Aug 4, 2014 in News Releases

 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS

Business Registration Division

 

NEIL ABERCROMBIE
GOVERNOR

KEALII S. LOPEZ
DIRECTOR

TUNG CHAN

SECURITIES COMMISSIONER

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Aug. 4, 2014

 

Open Registration Begins for Statewide LifeSmarts Competition

 

HONOLULU – The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) Office of the Securities Commissioner announces the start of the 2014-2015 season. Over the past decade, DCCA has sponsored the LifeSmarts competition in Hawaii involving more than 800 local student participants.

 

LifeSmarts is a fun, educational competition brought to Hawaii by the DCCA Office of the Securities Commissioner in partnership with the Hawaii Credit Union League and run by the National Consumers League. It tests middle school and high school students nationwide on real-life consumer issues through online quizzes and in-person competition. It is a FREE consumer education competition open to teens in grades 6-12.

 

High school teams may sign up starting Aug. 1, 2014, and compete online at https://lifesmarts.org/ between Oct. 27, 2014, and Dec. 3, 2014 (7 p.m. HST). At the end of the online competition, scores will be tabulated and the top four scoring teams will be invited to compete at the state championship to be held in Honolulu on Feb. 7, 2015. The DCCA Office of the Securities Commissioner will send the winning team to represent Hawaii at the national competition, which will be held in Seattle from April 17 to 20, 2015.

 

LifeSmarts teaches teens critical life skills in areas covering personal finance, consumer rights and responsibilities, health and safety, environment and technology. Coaches gain access to up-to-date broad-based consumer educational resources via mail, online and links to local and national organizations.

 

For teachers looking for ways to supplement their classes, the LifeSmarts program meets national educational standards. LifeSmarts will complement any school curriculum and can be used as a learning activity for classes, groups, clubs, and community organizations. Interested coaches can log onto www.lifesmartshawaii.com for additional information about the Hawaii competition.

 

All teams must have an adult sponsor or coach to participate. A team competing online may have any number of students, but a team competing in-person is made up of four to five  students.

 

The middle school or “Junior Varsity” teams may sign up and participate in an online-only competition designed especially for middle school students in grades 6-8 from September 2014 to February 2015. Winners of the JV competition will be recognized online.

 

Registration is FREE and is done online at www.lifesmarts.org. Those interested in forming a team can contact LifeSmarts State Coordinator Theresa Kong Kee at (808) 587-7400 or [email protected] for more information. Local businesses interested in becoming a sponsor may also contact the state coordinator.

 

For up-to-date information on the LifeSmarts program, connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram searching, “HISecurities.”

 

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Media Contact:

Brent Suyama

DCCA Communications Officer

(808) 586-7582

[email protected]

cca.hawaii.gov