Financial Education

What is LifeSmarts Junior Varsity?

LifeSmarts Junior Varsity (JV) is a game show-style competition that helps expand the consumer knowledge and skills of middle school students, grades 6-8. LifeSmarts JV engages students’ curiosity and prepares them for the day-to-day challenges they will encounter as adults. Similar to its counterpart high school program, the content and competition questions focus on five key areas:

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

LifeSmarts JV is a FREE activity. No registration fees are required for schools and organizations to participate.

Where is LifeSmarts JV conducted?

LifeSmarts JV is a flexible activity that complements any school curriculum. LifeSmarts JV team members may participate in the program at any time from any computer with Internet access.

How does it work?

LifeSmarts JV requires a group of four or more students working with an adult coach, making it an ideal small or large group activity. Teams begin by registering and competing online.

Coaches may form teams in a variety of ways:

• create several smaller teams (4-8 members) from a larger class or group
• create a large team, comprised of many members, for each class or group

The LifeSmarts JV program in New York is an online competition and runs from September 14, 2009 to February 5, 2010. During that timeframe, each team member will complete three rounds of online quizzes. Each quiz consists of 20 multiple-choice questions. The National Consumers League (NCL) tallies and records individual team scores, and the average of the top four scores for each team are used to determine state rankings.

Why should your school or organization participate in LifeSmarts JV?

LifeSmarts JV provides students with a valuable foundation of consumer and financial knowledge that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. Through the interactive competition, students develop teamwork skills, leadership abilities, self-esteem and verbal communication skills…and they have fun!

How do you get started?

It’s easy to implement a LifeSmarts JV program. Here are the steps to follow:

For Coaches

• Coaches must register by visiting the Coaches Corner at http://middle.lifesmarts.org/coaches and selecting Register as a Coach.
• Coaches must then register each team that will be competing by visiting the Coaches Corner at http://middle.lifesmarts.org/coaches and selecting Log-In. After logging in, select the Register Team option.
• Coaches can use a variety of educational resources to help prepare students by visiting http://www.lifesmarts.org, selecting the Coaches option, and then selecting Coaching Resources.

For Students

• Each student on a team must register individually and complete a brief LifeSmarts pre-test. To do this, visit http://middle.lifesmarts.org, select Register Here and follow the directions.
• After registering, students select the Pre-Test Quiz option. Once registered, students may complete practice quizzes as frequently as they wish by visiting http://middle.lifesmarts.org and entering their username and password. After logging in, select Take a Practice Quiz. There is also a Daily Five Question Quiz that challenges students each day in a specific rotating category.
• When students feel ready, or at interval dates preset by the coach, they can complete the Round 1, 2, and 3 quizzes by visiting http://middle.lifesmarts.org, logging in and selecting Join the Competition.
• Additional information about LifeSmarts JV can be obtained by visiting http://middle.lifesmarts.org and selecting Looking for Instructions directly under the Register/Login box. Additional information covers practice quizzes, competing in LifeSmarts JV, registering a team, checking student and team scores, retrieving student user names and passwords and checking out game statistics. 

For more information on LifeSmarts JV, contact us.

"I'm happy to see that LifeSmarts will be available to middle school teachers and students in New York this coming year. Clearly, LifeSmarts Junior Varsity aligns perfectly with the updated Home and Career Skills Curriculum and will definitely engage 6th, 7th and 8th grade students!  I am certain that LifeSmarts Junior Varsity will help our students be smart consumers." —Rosemarie Posillico, Director for Career& Technical Education, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake School District, Burnt Hills, NY Federal Reserve Board supports LifeSmarts “The Federal Reserve also continues to support a variety of programs and initiatives to increase financial literacy. These include…LifeSmarts, a national quiz-based competition for high school students sponsored by the National Consumer League…” —Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman, Federal Reserve Board, Speech at the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy and Federal Reserve Board Joint News Conference, Washington, DC, April 9, 2008 LifeSmarts Student Testimonials “It’s awesome! Obviously, being a part of LifeSmarts history is something really exciting for all our team members.”  —Middle school student from Missouri after winning the first ever Junior Varsity competition in that state “The LifeSmarts questions and competition are fun and prepare you for what you should know in the future.”  —Middle school student from Ohio “It was a wonderful experience, and I believe that the students experienced a growth in their self-confidence.”  —Junior Varsity coach from Missouri “Lifesmarts is a wonderful program that prepares students for their financial future while strengthening their reading skills. Research demonstrates that when teachers quiz students often, it increases retention of important concepts. Lifesmarts questions are wonderful starting points for classroom discussions and the Lifesmarts questions make good class openers.” —Junior Varsity coach from Ohio