Seven Georgia 4-H Junior Varsity and Varsity teams competed at the 2020 Georgia LifeSmarts Championship on Feb. 17 at Rock Eagle 4-H Center.

LifeSmarts, a National Consumers League program, is celebrating over 25 years of empowering middle and high school students across the United States to develop consumer literacy skills needed to succeed in today’s marketplace.

“LifeSmarts teaches students critical thinking skills and expands their knowledge on real-world issues to prepare them for life after high school,” said Brittani Lee, Georgia 4-H County Extension Agent and Georgia LifeSmarts Co-coordinator. “The life skills that LifeSmarts students gain through the program will aid them in being well-rounded, knowledgeable and prepared adults in tomorrow’s world. Not only are they preparing for the future, but they are having fun too.”

The competition quizzes the participants on five categories: Personal Finance, Consumer Rights and Responsibilities, Technology, Health and Safety, and the Environment. The student teams, under the guidance of an adult coach, participated in an online qualifying competition series. The highest-scoring four Junior Varsity and Varsity teams were invited to compete in the state championship.

“Both our Varsity and Junior Varsity teams were very impressive at the championship this year,” said Dr.Courtney Still Brown, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension 4-H Specialist of Healthy Living Programs and Georgia LifeSmarts Co-coordinator. “It is really encouraging to see these young people understanding and explaining concepts such as budgeting, consumer rights, online safety and much more. They certainly have a head start on how to navigate the complex consumer issues that we face today.”

Varsity Teams-

First place team: Alicia Carnes, David Han, Neely McCommons, Amelia Sale and Kalani Washington
(Coach: Allison Barnes, Assistant Coach: Ryan Rose) – Oconee County Team A

Second place team: Alyssa Haag, Robie Lucas, Jack Durham Marable, Abbigail Miller and Lexi Pritchard (Coach: Allison Barnes, Assistant Coach: Ryan Rose) – Oconee County Team B

Third place team: Safeer Mithani, Savid Pugh, Steven Pugh and Aromal Saji (Coach: Pam Bloch) – Gwinnett County

Fourth place team: Columbia County

Junior Varsity Teams-

First place team: Sara Grace Abernathy, Alexis Gentry, Kendall Jones, Elan McClain and Abby Moon
(Coach: Phyllis Allee) – Floyd County

Second place team: Kenzie Brady, Allison Highsmith, Autumn Samsel and Edwin Wood (Coach: Renee Smagur) – Habersham County

Third place team: Anna Cowart, Joshua Lynch, Dawson Monroe and Tiya Patel (Coach: Stephanie Myers) – Evans County

The first place varsity team will represent Georgia in the National LifeSmarts Championship, in hopes of being the national champions in Washington, D.C.  Through to a wild card bid process, the Rockdale County team has received a bid to compete in the National Championship as well. Additional Georgia teams may also receive a wild card bid to compete at the National Championship.

Georgia 4-H empowers youth to become true leaders by developing necessary life skills, positive relationships and community awareness. As the largest youth leadership organization in the state, 4-H reaches more than 242,000 people annually through the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension offices and 4-H facilities. For more information, visit georgia4h.org or contact your local Extension office.

Author: Cristina deRevere, stinafig@uga.edu

Source: Courtney Still Brown, courtms@uga.edu; Brittani Lee, bkelley@uga.edu