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September SmartStart
Get excited! It’s Season 31 of LifeSmarts!

LifeSmarts Prepares Youth to "Adult"
In a recent poll by the University of Michigan, parents of 17- and 18-year-olds were asked how prepared their teens were to live on their own. Here are some of the results:

  • 50% of parents believed that their teen could handle a minor injury with first aid.
  • Only 46% think their teen will save money for the future and check their credit scores.
  • 41% think their teen would prepare food and feed themselves healthy meals.
  • Only 25% thought their teen could dole out the correct dose of an over-the-counter medication.
  • 30% were confident their teen driver knew how to take care of their car’s maintenance.
  • 38% were confident their teen would make environmentally-friendly choices in food, clothing, housing, transportation, etc.
  • 33% thought their teen could prepare a resume, give public presentations, interview for a job, and practice self-discipline.

Fewer and fewer teens have the life skills they need to be successful. They readily admit this fact and worry that their employability skills, including teamwork, communication skills, and problem solving, could be stronger. Students who participate in LifeSmarts are better prepared to succeed as young adults and future employees who can fill the workplace-skills gap. LifeSmarts equips these young people to enter college and careers by providing abilities and experiences that set them up to transition effectively to adulthood.

With a successful history spanning over 30 years, LifeSmarts participants continue to prove they are prepared with the knowledge and skills they need to capably lead the next generation in changing the world for the better.


We are excited to partner with you to bring real-world lessons to life for teens. W
elcome back to the 31st year of LifeSmarts!

Teen Health & Safety – Drowsy Driving

A 2024 National Sleep Foundation study found that drowsy driving by teenagers is a common threat to public safety on U.S. roadways.

The study showed that approximately one in six adolescent drivers reported having driven drowsy. This equates to 1.7 million teenage drivers who have driver drowsy and more than 400,000 teens who drive drowsy at least once per week. The majority of teens pointed to work or school schedules as factors preventing them from getting the sleep they need to drive alert, and teen drivers with jobs were more than twice as likely to have driven drowsy than teens without jobs.

Additional findings reveal that when asked about the risks associated with drowsy driving, 95% of teens said drowsy driving is extremely or very risky. However, when asked about the likelihood of drunk, drugged, distracted and drowsy driving leading to death or serious injury, drowsy driving was seen as having the lowest risk of death or serious harm.

With motor vehicle crashes being a leading cause of death among U.S. teenagers, this research sheds light on the increased attention needed for this preventable public health concern. Teens need education to help them make safe driving choices, including not getting behind the wheel when fatigued. Drowsy driving is impaired driving – compromising judgment, executive function, cognitive speed, and muscle coordination. In the last year alone, over 800 people died in crashes involving drowsy drivers.

Drowsy driving occurs most frequently between midnight and 6 a.m. or in the late afternoon. At both times of the day, people experience dips in their circadian rhythm, which is the human body’s internal clock that regulates sleep.

Teen drowsy driving statistics and facts
  • As teens get less sleep, their risky driving behaviors increase, including cell phone use while driving and not wearing a seat belt.
  • Six in 10 drivers (62%) have driven a motor vehicle when they were so tired that they had a hard time keeping their eyes open, a projected 150+ million drivers.
  • Drowsy driving occurs more frequently among teens who consider themselves "night owls."
  • Being awake for 18 hours is similar to having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of 0.08, which is legally intoxicated.
  • An estimated 400,000 teens drive drowsy at least once per week.
Early school start times, after school activities, and after school jobs cut into precious sleep time required by teens, who need about 8 ½ to 9 ¼ hours of sleep a night to be healthy. Teen drivers who sleep less than 8 hours nightly are 1/3 more likely to crash than those who sleep 8 or more hours.

Ways to prevent / discourage drowsy driving:
  • Educate – Teach teens that drowsy driving is impaired driving. Sleep is an important safety concern and driving while exhausted or accepting a ride from someone who is extremely fatigued is unacceptable.
  • Provide a safe alternative - Offer to drive tired teens to school or work to prevent drowsy driving, or encourage teens to use ride shares / cabs or public transportation when too tired to drive.
  • Set limits on device usage - No use of electronics at bedtime or overnight.  
  • Monitor sleep habits and encourage more sleep, especially on weekends. Be aware of the sleep schedule of the teens you work with. Do not allow getting behind the wheel if overly tired and encourage them to sleep-in when they can.
  • Know the warning signs - Yawning or blinking frequently, having difficulty remembering the past few miles driven, missing an exit, drifting from the lane, or hitting a rumble strip are all signs of drowsy driving.
  • Model safe behavior - Whether parent, teacher, adviser, or youth leader, model healthy behavior. Develop a healthy sleep schedule and observe limits on technology. Don’t drive when exhausted, especially at night when most drowsy driving accidents occur. Changing your safety behaviors sets a positive example for teens whom you guide and influence.

Ideas to educate teens about Drowsy Impaired Driving:


NEW Practice Quizzes for each topic!
Five new practice quizzes are now available for each LifeSmarts topic. Students should login to LifeSmarts and click on Quizzes on the left. The new practice quizzes are in purple folders by topic.

NEW LifeSmarts U Health Care Coverage lessons
Three brand new LifeSmart U lessons are now available for your use:


NEW StudySmart Guides and StudySmart Enrichment Resources available
Checkout these new Health & Safety study materials to help you and your students be “in the know” this LifeSmarts season!


More coming throughout this season!
    Awesome August TeamSmarts winners
    Thanks to all the participants in the Awesome August TeamSmarts quiz!  Congrats to these TeamSmarts Challenge winners! Each winning team receives a $100 cash prize.
    Varsity: The Money Hounds, Litchville-Marion High School, Marion, ND
    4-H: Clayton County 4-H, Georgia 4-H, Jonesboro, GA
    BPA: L & C, Ohio Hi-Point Career Center BPA, Bellefontaine, OH
    FCCLA: Bartlett FCCLA, Bartlett High School FCCLA, TX
    FBLA: Robinson Valarian, Robinson Secondary School, Fairfax, VA
    Junior Varsity: LMHS Thunder JV, Litchville-Marion High School, Marion, ND

    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! Join the ranks of the $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. This year, TeamSmarts quizzes are located in easily recognizable folders. Teams work together to take this 50-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 LifeSmarts 4-H Online Summer Challenge.  The winners are: Junior Varsity –Gordon County 4-H - Georgia; and Varsity –Larimer County 4-H – Colorado. Each 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! This season, all Varsity State Championships will take place between December 1 , 2024 and February 28, 2025.
    FCCLA / LifeSmarts Knowledge Bowl
    The FCCLA Fall TeamSmarts NLC Qualifier Quiz for teams competing in the FCCLA / LifeSmarts Knowledge Bowl competition will be open From October 21, 2024, until November 25, 2024.  Information for interested FCCLA teams can be found here. The forty teams with the highest scores will move on to the final rounds of the competition at the FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Orlando, FL, next summer. 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 with the Fall Challenge, October 14 – November 8, 2024. You can prepare now by registering, taking practice quizzes, and participating in the September TeamSmarts Challenge.

    New this year from FBLA:

    • FBLA Teams are allowed to return and compete in the LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge on the state and national level if that team did not win first place in the LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge at a previous FBLA National Leadership Conference.
    • Individuals may compete again with a new partner if neither was part of a first place in the LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge at a previous FBLA National Leadership Conference.
    • Middle School Teams and High School Teams are eligible to compete.
    • Teams can be middle school students or high school students – not a combination of either.

    The top twelve teams (from different states) in the fall challenge advance to the Finals at the FBLA National Leadership Conference in Anaheim next June. 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.

    LifeSmarts BPA Challenges
    BOLO for updates on the LifeSmarts BPA Technology & Workforce Preparation Challenge and the LifeSmarts BPA Personal Finance Challenge.  Details will be shared with all BPA Advisers/Coaches with more information available here.

    SkillsUSA and LifeSmarts
    BOLO for updates on the LifeSmarts SkillsUSA Health & Safety Challenge which will be held November 1 – 30, 2024, a NEW LifeSmarts SkillsUSA Quiz Bowl Challenge, and our upcoming work with the National SkillsUSA Quiz Bowl. Additional information will be shared with all SkillsUSA Advisers/Coaches and will be shared here.

    NEW! LifeSmarts at FBLA Fall Conference
    If you are new to the LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge or just want to join us for a great time, sign up in teams of two for one of the “LifeSmarts: Champions of the Classroom” skills labs at FBLA Fall Conference in Columbus, Ohio. We will have fun learning about LifeSmarts with interactive games, then host the LifeSmarts FBLA Fall Conference Challenge. You will need a smart phone or tablet to serve as your buzzer for this. The top scoring team in the morning session and the top scoring team in the afternoon session will qualify directly to the National LifeSmarts FBLA Challenge Finals next summer! See you there!
    Meet the LifeSmarts Team!
    We are excited to welcome our new Associate Program Director – Curriculum, Cristina Counts! Cristina is no stranger to LifeSmarts, having coached three State Champion teams from Texas including their first Sweet – 16 team! Cristina has developed Lesson Plans for LifeSmarts over the last two years and we are excited to have her knowledge and creativity as part of LifeSmarts! We invite you to meet the entire LifeSmarts team
    here.

    LifeSmarts State Coordinators Needed!
    We are looking for LifeSmarts State Coordinators in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and several other states!  Please reach out if you are interested or know someone who would be.

    Winners of the 2024 Coach Survey Gift Cards
    Thanks to all the coaches who completed our LifeSmarts Year-End survey. Names were added to a random wheel and the two lucky prize winners are:

    1.     Michelle Missling, MN
    2.     Ashley Carroll, GA

    Please contact Cheryl to receive your prize.

    Stay Tuned for our New Consumer Advocacy Video Contest, Year 2 of our LifeSparks Awards and more! Details coming soon!

    It’s going to be a great year!

    Have a great month!

    The LifeSmarts Team


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