Commissioner Adam H. Putnam

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Seminole 4-H Wins State Lifesmarts Championship

For Information, Contact:
Gwen Worlds
(850) 410-3702
Gwendolyn.Worlds@freshfromflorida.com

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February 19, 2010

TALLAHASSEE – A five-member team of high school students from Sanford, Florida won the State LifeSmarts Championship this week held at the Florida State Fair in Tampa.

LifeSmarts is an educational program that develops the consumer and marketplace skills of teenagers in a fun way and rewards them for this knowledge. The program complements any curriculum in high schools and can be used as an activity for classes, groups, clubs, and community organizations. LifeSmarts competitions are run in a game show style and open to all teens in the United States in grades nine through twelve. Teams of teens compete online and in state matches, with the state winners going to the national competition to vie for the LifeSmarts championship title.

Shelda Wilkens of Seminole County 4-H, Sanford, served as the team’s coach and Jasmine Samuels served as the co-coach. Team members are Zack Cole, Gabrielle Samuels, Hunter Gair, Stephanie Morris, and Amanda Brown.

Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson was on hand to congratulate the winning team and to offer praise to all of the competing teams. He also presented a check to the state winning team and their coach for $3,300 from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to defray expenses to the national competition, scheduled for April 24-27 in Miami Beach, Florida.

“LifeSmarts teaches teens to be smart and responsible consumers. Students gain meaningful knowledge and confidence to participate in today’s marketplace,” Bronson said. “I encourage students, club members and teachers from across the state to participate in the internet competition when the opportunity becomes available again in September 2010.”

“LifeSmarts helps teens learn how to spot and avoid scams and how to obtain answers to practical problems,“ Bronson said. “It prepares them to be well informed and responsible consumers.”

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is the state sponsor of LifeSmarts. The Department is the state’s lead agency for consumer issues and regulates various businesses, such as motor vehicle repair shops, health studios, telemarketers, business opportunities and charitable solicitors. It also operates as the state’s clearinghouse for consumer complaints and maintains the Consumer Helpline 1-800-HELPFLA (435-7352).

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League (NCL). State coordinators implement the program locally. Founded in 1899, the NCL is America’s pioneer consumer organization. NCL is a national non-profit organization that protects and promotes the social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. NCL operates LifeSmarts and works in partnership with other nonprofit government and education groups in the states. Community-minded businesses, associations and government agencies provide the financial support to make LifeSmarts available free of charge to students nationwide. For more information, visit: www.lifesmarts.org, e-mail lifesmarts@nclnet.org, or call the NCL at 202-835-3323.

The Florida online competition involved nearly 60 coaches with over 1,300 students from public and private high schools, FFA and 4-H clubs, and home-schools, who competed in the Internet competition, which ran continuously from September 14, 2009 until December 9, 2009. The Seminole 4-H students competed against students from 12 other teams during the state competition called “LifeSmarts ... The Ultimate Consumer Challenge.” The 13 teams that competed for the state title were from the following cities:

To learn more about the LifeSmarts competition, visit the LifeSmarts web site at www.800helpfla.com/lifesmarts.html or contact Gwen Worlds, Florida LifeSmarts coordinator, at (850) 410-3702.

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