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Celebrate the 30th Anniversary season of LifeSmarts! Welcome to the 2023- 2024 LifeSmarts program year. We are excited to partner with you to bring real-world lessons to life for young people.
Teen Health & Safety
According to the High School YRBS (Youth Risk Behavior Study) 36% of students have used electronic vapor products including e-cigarettes, vapes, vape pens, e-cigars, e-hookahs, hookah pens, and mods, such as JUUL, SMOK, Suorin, Vuse, and blu. Nearly 7% of these teens were able to purchase these products themselves in a convenience store, supermarket, discount store, or gas station. Fifteen percent admitted they had their first drink before the age of 13, with 22% currently drinking alcohol, and 28% having used marijuana. An additional 7% had used synthetic marijuana.
In relation to nutrition, 36% indicated they did not drink milk but 52% drank sports drinks with 69% indicating they drank a can, bottle of glass of soda or pop daily. Seventy-five percent did not eat breakfast any day of the week. As far as physical activity, 76% were not physically active for at least 60 minutes per day 7 days a week, and 76% spent 3 or more hours per day on screen time. Additionally, 81% did not attend daily PE classes and 12% had had a concussion from playing a sport or being physically active. Thirty-two percent described themselves as slightly or very overweight.
In other health topics, 29% reported that
their mental health was suffering. Seventy-seven percent did not get 8 or more hours of sleep per night, and 64% had experienced a sunburn where their skin turned red or hurt for 12 hours or more after exposure. Thirty-nine percent said they did not feel close to people at their school.
LifeSmarts helps educate teens about being healthy and safe as well as evaluate the risks they take. For additional information, visit our Health & Safety resources at https://lifesmarts.org/resources/.
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Stay tuned for more updates happening throughout the fall!
NEW LifeSmarts U Healthcare Coverage LessonA brand new LifeSmarts U lesson, Healthcare Coverage expands students’ knowledge about health care coverage and helps them understand the need for health coverage throughout one’s life. The lesson includes a PowerPoint, Rapid Research Worksheet, Tell Me the Question Quiz, and a Kahoot.
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September Health & Safety TeamSmarts Quiz
The September TeamSmarts quiz featuring health and safety topics is open until September 30 at 11:55 PM, EST. Compete now with your team! Be among the first teams to win a $100 cash prize this season!
TeamSmarts, the LifeSmarts web-based team competition, is a great practice tool.
These monthly quizzes show up under your team captain’s "quizzes" tab. (NOTE: If your team captain does not see the quiz, have them click on the orange “View All” button and page down. If they still don’t see it, have them click on the blue “Load More” button.) Teams work together to take this 100-question quiz. Remember to keep your eye on the play clock since all LifeSmarts quizzes are timed. Cash prizes are awarded to the top-scoring Varsity, JV, 4-H, BPA, FBLA, FCCLA, and SkillsUSA teams.
4-H Challenge
Champions
Congratulations to all the great 4-H teams from across the country who competed in the first LifeSmarts 4-H Online Summer Challenge.
The winners are:
Junior Varsity – First Place, Pickens County 4-H JV from Jasper, GA; Second Place, Gordon County 4-H JV from Calhoun, GA;
and
Varsity – First Place, Larimer County 4-H Varsity Team from Fort Collins, CO; Second Place, Teal Taters 4-H Varsity from Rupert, ID, and Third Place, Pickens County 4-H Varsity from Jasper, GA.
Each first place team receives a $100 cash prize. We look forward to more 4-H teams joining us for the challenge next August.
Compete in Your State
We are updating State pages daily and also adding dates to our LifeSmarts Events Calendar. Be sure to check them often to stay up-to-date on deadlines for your state competition!
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FCCLA / LifeSmarts Knowledge Bowl
The FCCLA TeamSmarts Quiz for teams competing in the FCCLA/LifeSmarts Knowledge Bowl competition is open until September 27 at 11:55 PM, EST. Information for interested FCCLA teams can be found here. The forty teams with the highest scores will move on to the next round of the competition at the FCCLA National Fall Conference in Birmingham, AL, in November. We look forward to meeting your team in Birmingham! Contact us with questions.
LifeSmarts FBLA Fall Challenge opens in October
FBLA teams – your chance to compete in the LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge begins next month. You can prepare now by registering, taking practice quizzes, and participating in the September TeamSmarts Challenge. New this year from FBLA: Members may compete in an event at NLC more than once if they have not previously placed in the top ten of that event at NLC.
If a member places in the top ten of an event at NLC, they are no longer eligible to compete in that event.
The top twelve teams (from different states) advance to the Finals at the FBLA National Leadership Conference in Orlando next June. The challenge will be open October 16 – November 10. Teams of two students compete online at https://lifesmarts.org/, with the team taking two TeamSmarts quizzes together and each team member also completing an individual quiz. Learn more here.
Contact us with questions.
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Norton Wild Card Applications – Due November 10th!
LifeSmarts and Norton have renewed their partnership for the 2023-24 program year so that new LifeSmarts teams may apply for Norton Wild Card bids to compete in the 2024 National LifeSmarts Championship. This partnership increases the LifeSmarts program’s reach in under-resourced communities and provides direct support to qualified
teams to attend and compete at Nationals. LifeSmarts invites eligible teams to apply now through November 10, 2023. Ten LifeSmarts Norton Wild Card Teams will be selected through an application process, and these teams will be provided with funding to ensure participation in the 2024 National LifeSmarts Championship. Each team will receive a travel stipend of $4,000 to cover transportation and hotel room costs.
Download the instructions for the application and competition process here.
More information and the application can be found here.
Please contact us with any questions you have. We look forward to receiving your applications!
Varsity Wild Card Applications
Additional Wild Card applications for Varsity teams will be posted soon.
Stay Tuned for our 30th Anniversary Video Contest and a New LifeSmarts Team Award
Details coming soon!
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Help LifeSmarts reach even more students this year! Donate today.
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