RI State LifeSmarts Champions pictured with Coalition President, Charles Kelley (far left) and RI Secretary of State, A. Ralph Mollis (far right) at the RI State House on March 26, 2010

Contact:  Jim Hedemark
RI Jump$tart Coalition Executive Director
RI LifeSmarts Coordinator

Barrington High School Student National Champion In Consumer Rights & Responsibilities

Team from Barrington Takes Eighth Place at National LifeSmarts Competition

Providence, RI, May 5, 2010 – Barrington high school senior Gabrielle Sclafani has been named the consumer rights and responsibilities national individual champion as awarded by the National Consumers League (NCL) at the national LifeSmarts competition that took place in Miami Beach, FL, April 24-27.

A team of five Barrington high school students represented Rhode Island as state LifeSmarts champions at the competition and claimed eighth place out of thirty-two state champion teams who competed for the national LifeSmarts team title.The team is comprised of, Gabrielle Sclafani (captain), Christopher Dow, Dane Mainella, Bryan Le and Benjamin Shand, and is coached by Karen Proule, a business teacher at the school.

LifeSmarts: the ultimate consumer challenge is a national fast-paced, quiz bowl format program of the National Consumers League and educates and rewards teenagers for their knowledge in five focus areas; personal finance, technology, environment, health & safety, and consumer rights and responsibilities.The program in coordinated in Rhode Island by the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.

At the 2010 nationals for the first time in the sixteen year history of the competition the NCL provided competitive individual awards in each of their five focus areas.For Sclafani to be named consumer rights and responsibilities national champion, she outscored all other individuals from the 31 other state champion teams competing in that category.Each state champion team sent one representative to compete in each of the topic areas, and $500 scholarships were awarded by NCL to the top scorer in each category.

Sclafani will attend Brown University in Providence next fall.

In order to be become state champions and qualify for nationals, the Barrington team first placed highest among all school peers in an online competition, and then competed at the state finals a.k.a. CollegeBoundfund “March Smartness” at the Rhode Island State House on March 26th, 2010 and beat five other teams including an overtime win against North Providence high school.