JMHS Earns National Honors at 31st Varsity National LifeSmarts Championship
Students from John Marshall High School placed 5th in the 2025 Varsity National LifeSmarts Champions in Chicago, IL.
LifeSmarts is a free educational program, competition and scholarship program run by the Washington, DC-based National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer advocacy organization. It competitively tests high school students’ knowledge of consumer awareness, with subjects including personal finance, health & safety, consumer rights & responsibilities, technology & workforce preparation, and the environment. LifeSmarts is available in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in partnership programs with student leadership programs 4-H, BPA, FBLA, FCCLA and SkillsUSA.
Forty-six teams from across the country competed this year. Local students from John Marshall High School competed as the West Virginia State Champion Team, representing West Virginia at the national level for the seventh consecutive year.
“We are so proud of these students who represented their LifeSmarts programs and school so well,” said LifeSmarts Program Director Cheryl Varnadoe. “They competed hard and demonstrated their consumer smarts throughout the three-day event. They are true LifeSmarts champions.”
“Our 2025 team was a unique team for us in that four of the five members have competed at nationals previously, but not together. Senior members Atreyu Dudley and Taylee Sipin competed on the WV nationals team in 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio and junior members Jasper Murrin and Alina Holliday competed in 2024 representing West Virginia in San Diego, California where the team placed 4th in the nation. These members recruited first time member Morgan Messner who was a valuable asset in helping the team reach such high successes for a second year in a row. This team truly worked together and had fun every step of the way. This competition is great, not just for the knowledge that is gained throughout the program, but also in that it cannot be won alone. It is truly a team effort and the platform ensure that all members a full participant in the team’s success,” said coach Megan Pintus.
Consumer-savvy teens representing 34 states and the District of Columbia, competed at the event. Throughout the 2024-2025 program year, more than 150,000 teens competed online for a chance to represent their states at the 2025 National LifeSmarts Championship. Students answered more than 3.5 million consumer questions in the online competition.
The 2025 National LifeSmarts Champions and other winning teams walked away with prizes and $50,000 in scholarships. All teams competing in the national LifeSmarts Competition received valuable prizes, including scholarships, gift cards, and fun swag items, but most importantly, invaluable life knowledge to become informed consumers.
