By Kennedy Werner

The National Consumers League and the Better Business Bureau of Eastern and Northern Michigan invite high school students to compete in the Ultimate Consumers Challenge. Designed to help students succeed in marketing, the competition begins with the formation of a team of at least four students and an adult coach in the hopes of making it to Nationals in Orlando Florida in April.

Testing the knowledge of personal finance, health and safety, environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities, teams must partake in a series of online tests. Teams that place highest in these tests will be invited to States at Oakland University in March. The winning team at States will then go on to Nationals.

“After hearing about this awesome opportunity, I’d really like to form a team,” said WLC junior Kassandra Aboona, “It looks great on college applications and seems like a fun bonding experience over common sense knowledge.”

Each player must register individually at www.lifesmarts.org/lifesmarts-registration/. There is still a whole month left to complete the five online rounds for the state competition next month.

The free online competition consists of three rounds, each with 20 question tests. The Lifesmarts website offers daily quizzes and practice tests for teams to prepare before the actual tests.

“What students may not know is that the practice tests and quizzes are taken directly from past years’ competition questions.  It is surprising to see how many do not use the practice quizzes / tests to see questions very similar to those used during the state or national competitions,” said Lifesmarts marketing coordinator Crystal Kontos, “The practice portions are incredibly useful tools … whether it’s at school or at home, just for fun.”

Prizes, donated by the National Consumers League at Nationals, include scholarships, laptops, netbooks, iPads, iPods, gift cards, and cash.

“Whether [you’re] going off to college right after high school or directly entering the workforce, LifeSmarts helps provide the life skills to successfully navigate the many financial responsibilities facing all young adults on the verge of adulthood.  Without the necessary skills, that long sought after freedom and independence can be lost quicker than [you] think.  LifeSmarts helps [you] to hold onto it,” said Kontos.