Mike Morsch, Regional Editor
After 20 competitions involving 74 New Jersey high school teams, Hightstown High School has been crowned the champion of the 21st Annual New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs High School Consumer Bowl., With a score of 75 in the finals held May 16 at the Hughes Justice Complex in Trenton, Hightstown took first place. Irvington High School placed second with 55 points, and Moorestown Friends School took home third with a score of 45., The competition, waged over three rounds, was tight, with Hightstown maintaining a lead through the second and third series of questions. The lightning round, with questions on such topics as beauty parlor regulations and rent-to-own businesses, provided the Mercer County school with enough of a cushion to pull out the victory., “The best tool for fighting fraud in the marketplace is an informed consumer,” said Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino. “The Consumer Bowl’s goal is to spread the wealth of information available through the Division of Consumer Affairs to the state’s youngest customers. Our hope is that they will then talk to others about what they’ve learned and help to prevent fraud virally.”, “We are thrilled that 74 New Jersey schools think it is vitally important to educate their students to recognize scams and know their rights as consumers. It’s also impressive that schools such as Irvington, Moorestown Friends and Hightstown prepared so well for today’s finals,” said Steve Lee, Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “These efforts will pay off. These students now know how to protect themselves and protect their families from scammers and bad deals. We’re proud of them for what they’ve accomplished.”, The Consumer Bowl competition features teams of students who have studied the state’s consumer protection laws and regulations under the guidance of a teacher who functions as the team adviser. The competition takes place in a game-show format, with teams buzzing in to answer questions posed by a moderator from the Division of Consumer Affairs., Hightstown had to compete against two other finalists who are no strangers to the Consumer Bowl championship round. Irvington won the competition in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Moorestown Friends won in 2016., Each team had to win a county competition and a regional competition to reach the finals., The Hightstown team’s teacher/adviser, David Teleposky, said the competition provided his students with not only knowledge but also life lessons they can carry with them., “The students preparing for the Consumer Bowl itself has definitely helped in their own lives,” he said., Consumer Bowl topics include home improvement contractors, fraudulent charities, credit repair and reporting, charitable giving and consumer fraud, among others., The students representing Hightstown High School included team captain Jasman Singh, Shivam Verma, Sree Chinta, Dhruv Samdani, Devashru Patel, Steven Cohen and John Titicula.
