Missouri LifeSmarts

LifeSmarts teaches high school and junior high school students about:

• personal finance,
• consumer rights and responsibilities,
• technology,
• health and safety, and
• the environment.

LifeSmarts develops the consumer and marketplace skills of teenagers in a fun way and rewards them for the knowledge they demonstrate. The program complements any curriculum in high schools and junior high schools and can be used as an activity for classes, groups, clubs, and community organizations.

LifeSmarts is an integrated educational program that can be used in math, science, language arts, social studies, career education or any curriculum to expand the general knowledge of students. It is open to students in grades 6-12. The goal of LifeSmarts is to create consumer savvy young people who will be well equipped for adult life in today’s complex, global marketplace.

LifeSmarts is a teacher resource, a student resource and a place for competition!

Visual Guide to LifeSmarts in Missouri

If you have never given LifeSmarts a try, this could be the year for you to try the resources, lesson plans, competitions, and community service projects!  https://lifesmarts.org/state-competitions/missouri

For more information, contact: molifesmarts@dese.mo.gov or (573) 751-6878.

2023-2024 Calendar of Events

State Competition paperwork due: Wednesday, January 17, 2024

State Competition Dates: JV - Tuesday, February 13, 2024; Varsity - Wednesday, February 14, 2024
                                         Make-up dates: JV - February 15; Varsity - February 16

State Competition Location: First Mid Bank & Trust, Jefferson City

The Varsity state winner will be invited to compete at the LifeSmarts National Competition. The competition is free.

Nationals LifeSmarts is April 18-21, 2024 in San Diego, CA

State Competition

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Congratulations to all teams who participated in LifeSmarts this year. We had several new teams sign up to take our total number of teams well over 100. All teams who completed the individual category quizzes were able to compete for the in person state competition. Teams then qualified by taking a 100 question State TeamSmarts quiz. The top 8 scoring varsity  teams were invited to Jefferson City mid-February for the live quiz bowl State competition. This also included 6 JV teams over a 2-day competition.

Varsity teams competing included the following:
Valley Park, Blair Oaks, Fatima, Lebanon, Fort Zumwalt, Odessa, and Rolla.  Odessa won over Blair Oaks in a very close championship round. Fatima placed third after a tie-breaker round with Blair Oaks who won the opportunity to compete in the final round with Odessa. Odessa will represent Missouri in San Diego in April.

Junior Varsity teams were represented by Owensville, Fatima, Clearwater and Blair Oaks.
Owensville and Blair Oaks took the final match into the tie breaker round. It was a great battle and Owensville came out one ahead to be our champions. They will represent Missouri in May in the first ever online National Championship.  Fatima placed third.
 
Missouri has the fortune to have 2 Norton Wild Card teams competing at Nationals in April as well. These teams are from Hughesville and Mack’s Creek. They were chosen based on an application process among teams from across the U.S.  They have been awarded $4000 each from Norton for travel expenses. This is a great opportunity to keep in mind for next year!  Missouri is one of less than ten states that have in person competitions and we have the most registered teams overall.  Last year we also scored two teams that received the Norton Wild Card.  

This event is sponsored and funded by Family and Consumer Science, Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) and we had three additional sponsors this year:  Missouri Insurance Education Foundation (MIEF--they have sponsored us for a second year), Missouri Employers Mutual, and First Mid Bank and Trust.  They have made it possible to help keep this an in person contest that provides lunch both days, a t-shirt for all participants and coaches, and we give a $500 stipend to the winning Varsity team to help defray costs to Nationals.  We also could not do any of this without the continued support of our awesome community volunteers who each year bring back their knowledge and enthusiasm to the students and the State competitions.  This program is for any/all students that have the support of a coach and realize the incredible importance of learning these life skills are just what every student and adults need to know.  Missouri will have three and possibly four teams in San Diego at National competitions in April!

 

LifeSmarts Winners Announced

Junior Varsity

• 1^st           Owensville Middle School Seek #1
• 2^nd           Falcons
• 3^rd           Commanders JV

Varsity

• 1^{st                 Odessa Bulldogs}    
• 2^nd                Team Falcon
• 3^rd                 Comet Commanders

 

Congratulations to Macks Creek and Northwest Hughesville that were awarded Norton Wild Card Teams and received a travel stipend to cover hotel rooms, travel costs, and coaches’ stipends. These two teams and our 1^st place Varsity team represented Missouri at National competition in San Diego, California in April!

Junior Varsity Competition

Junior Varsity LifeSmarts is a consumer education competition that challenges teens in grades 6-8 about personal finance, health and safety, the environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities. It is a program of the National Consumers League.

Youth from across the state first compete online for a chance to go to the in-person state finals held annually in Jefferson City, MO.

Varsity Competition

LifeSmarts, a consumer education competition that challenges teens in grades 9-12 about personal finance, health and safety, the environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities, is a program of the National Consumers League. 

Teens from across the state first competed online for a chance to go to the in-person state finals held in January or February in Jefferson City. State varsity champions will compete at the national LifeSmarts competition to represent Missouri.

TeamSmarts

TeamSmarts is a web-based team competition. Each month from September through January teams are invited to take a 100 point multiple-choice quiz focused on one LifeSmarts topic. Quizzes are open for the entire month. Prizes are awarded each month by nationals.

There are five categories of TeamSmarts teams. There are JV teams, Varsity teams, FBLA teams, FCCLA teams, and 4-H teams. FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) and FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) teams must be coached by a business (FBLA) or family consumer science (FCCLA) teacher and all of the members of those teams must be members of the student organization. Each winning team from each of the three categories receive $100 for winning that monthly competition nationally.

More information on this program can be found here: https://lifesmarts.org/teamsmarts/

Resources

Sample Competition Questions

Question of the Day Calendars

Coach's Guide

National LifeSmarts Resources

 

Additional Resources/Websites

MIEF link.  http://mief.org/

Yes You Can Financial Education from American Century Investments

Practical Money Skills

Spent- Virtual simulation about living on a minimum wage job 

On Guard Online- FTC online security tips and resources

Sponsors

Missouri LifeSmarts Sponsors:

Missouri Family Consumer Sciences and Human Services Education

Missouri Association Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA)

Missouri Insurance Education Foundation

National LifeSmarts Sponsor:

National LifeSmarts is sponsored by the National Consumers League (NCL), based in Washington D.C. Founded in 1899, it is a national nonprofit organization that identifies, protects, represents and advances the economic and social interests of consumers and workers through education, research and advocacy.