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WEST CHICAGO
The West Chicago Community High School team captured Illinois’ LifeSmarts championship by successfully fielding questions about real-life marketplace issues and will be headed to Denver to compete nationally. Second place also went to a WCCHS team.
The championship team is composed of Captain Garrett Hosticka of West Chicago, Michael Sawicki of Carol Stream, Sarah Venen of West Chicago and Jacob Wiegele of Carol Stream. Earning second place are Captain Harsh Patel, Jesus Moreno, Arturo Rubio and Conor Tully, all of West Chicago. The contest took place Feb. 23 at WCCHS.
LifeSmarts, a consumer education competition that challenges teens in ninth through 12th grade about personal finance, health and safety, the environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities, is a program of the National Consumers League. In Illinois, LifeSmarts is sponsored by the Illinois Consumer Education Association.
Don Zabelin, past president and current executive board member of ICEA, serves as the Illinois LifeSmarts coordinator and is responsible for organizing the Illinois state competition. Zabelin started the LifeSmarts team at WCCHS in 1997, according to the news release. The current LifeSmarts program is coached by Nancy Blume and Donna Durbin, business education teachers in the Career & Technical Education Division at WCCHS.
Teens from across the state first competed online for a chance to attend the state finals Feb. 23. The WCCHS state champions have qualified for the national LifeSmarts competition to be hosted in Denver from April 9 to 12.
“This was one of the best competitions we’ve had,” Hosticka said in the release. “Any of the teams there could have won the state championship, so being able to come up on top was an exciting moment. I am really looking forward to competing in Denver.”
LifeSmarts participants in Illinois have gained many of the consumer smarts they’ll need to make it in the real world, Zabelin said in the release, noting, “We’re proud to have West Chicago Community High School represent us at the 2016 national LifeSmarts championship in Denver.”
LifeSmarts participants win by learning to avoid common consumer pitfalls, navigate the government, and understand credit card jargon before they have to sign on the dotted line, said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League.