HONOLULU - The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) Business Registration Division and Insurance Division, and Hawai?i Credit Union League (HCUL) announces that the team from Iolani School today won the annual Hawai?i LifeSmarts State Competition at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu.

The competition tests students on their knowledge of personal finance, health and safety, the environment, technology, and consumer rights and responsibilities. Following the preliminary online portion of the competition, top scoring teams from Kalani, Iolani and Waipahu High Schools were invited to compete in today’s in-person competition, where they tested their skills through a “speed smarts” activity, and game show-style buzzer rounds.

Iolani School will go on to represent Hawai?i at the National LifeSmarts Competition in Chicago, Illinois from April 24 – 27, 2025. Members of the team are: Kevin Fleming (team captain), Jeremy Choi, Cade McDevitt, Tyler Hijirida, and Ryan Chan.  The team was coached by Kit U Wong.

“Congratulations to Iolani School as it advances to the National Competition in Chicago,” said Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Director Nadine Ando. “The LifeSmarts program teaches our students practical, real-life skills that they will need as they enter adulthood, and we are proud to be a sponsor of this statewide program. Thank you to our staff, volunteers, and community partners for their generous contributions towards another successful year of Hawai?i LifeSmarts.”

2025 Hawai?i State Competition Community Supporters include: 

• Aloha Pacific Federal Credit Union
• Amazon Web Services
• Better Business Bureau
• Big Island Federal Credit Union
• Cisco
• Coastal Construction Co., Inc.
• eWorld Enterprise Solutions, Inc., Google Cloud
• Farmers Hawai?i
• Hawai?i Community Federal Credit Union
• Hawai?i Credit Union League
• Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA)
• Hawai?i Information Service
• Hawai?i State Federal Credit Union
• HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union Foundation
• Hawai?i Medical Service Association (HMSA)
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Local 1186
• Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET)
• Outrigger Resorts & Hotels
• Pacxa
• Pasha Group and Pasha Hawai?i
• Pearl Hawai?i Federal Credit Union
• Schofield Federal Credit Union
• SHI International Corp.
• University of Hawai?i at M?noa Shidler College of Business, Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE)
• Walmart 

Visit www.LifeSmartsHawaii.com for more information.

LINK: PHOTOS AND B-ROLL

LifeSmarts is a national consumer education program that prepares students to enter the real world as smart consumers by teaching them the skills needed to succeed in today’s global marketplace. The program is run by the National Consumers League and sponsored locally by the DCCA Business Registration Division and Insurance Division, in partnership with the Hawai?i Credit Union League.