Waiakea team places second in LifeSmarts championship

Waiakea High School’s LifeSmarts team is claiming success after winning second place Saturday in the consumer education competition’s statewide event.

Four qualifying teams competed in the 12th annual LifeSmarts Hawaii State Championship, hosted this year at the State Capital Auditorium on Oahu. The five-member Waiakea team was the only non-Oahu team to qualify.

Iolani School took top honors and advances to national competition in April in Denver.

“Overall, I’d say the competition went really well,” Waiakea LifeSmarts team adviser Whitney Aragaki said, adding Iolani was a strong competitor.

The Waiakea students took home first place in three of the five individual categories. Team member Ana Bitter won consumer rights and responsibilities, team member Felix Peng took first in the environment category, and team member Blair Martin placed first in technology.

The game show style, consumer education challenge quizzed students in five topic areas via online tests and in-person competitions. The competition is active in 42 states, according to the LifeSmarts website, and reaches about 125,000 teens nationwide each year via online resources and classroom material.

Aragaki encouraged the Waiakea students to participate because she thought it would help them learn practical skills not traditionally taught in school.

Team member Ramsey Goodale, 18, said his favorite part was the “speed dating” portion of the competition, a period in which teams move every few minutes to a different station to complete various tasks. Goodale said it gave the team a chance to work together.

“I would say (the competition) was a very good experience,” he said. “I learned a lot through the process, and it’s (material) I can actually apply to my life. I would say we all had fun, and the time we spent preparing for it brought us closer together as a team.”

Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitriibune-herald.com.