The Barrington High School LifeSmarts team won the national championship earlier this month.

The team of five local students rolled through a field of talented competition during early rounds at LifeSmarts Nationals in Orlando, Fla., and then knocked off the defending national championship team from Pennsylvania in the competition finals.

Sam Schachter, a math teacher at Barrington High School, is head coach for the BHS LifeSmarts team. He said Barrington has been to the nationals for the last five years but had fallen short of the title. A few years ago, the Barrington team battled Florida in the finals, but lost by two points.

"It was so close and it was so discouraging because you work so hard," said Mr. Schachter. "This year it was in the cards."

LifeSmarts is a quiz bowl format program that focuses on consumer topics ranging from personal finance and technology to the environment and consumer rights. 

Barrington, which won the state championship earlier this year, opened the first round of nationals with a "comfortable win" over a team from Georgia. The Eagles, comprised of Daniel Sheinberg, Jonathan Zhang, Annika Kelly, CJ Hilty and Willis Bilderback, defeated Wisconsin in the round of eight.

In the semifinals, Barrington squared off against a tough team from Wyoming. Barrington won 285-200. Meanwhile, the defending national champs from Dallas, Pa. defeated Illinois 244-232 in the other semifinal.

In the finals, Barrington built an early lead against Dallas, Pa., and needed to correctly answer at least one of the final four questions to capture the title. Dallas answered the first question right, and rang in to answer the second. But the Pennsylvania students answered that question incorrectly and left Barrington the opportunity to secure the victory. 

"We got it right and that sealed it," said Mr. Schachter, adding that each of the Barrington team members received a $1,500 scholarship for winning the national championship.

The BHS coach credited all the local students for their contributions, but shared special praise for Daniel Sheinberg. The senior captain played a key role in Barrington's performance throughout the finals. 

"This was Daniel's fourth year (on the BHS LifeSmarts team)," said Mr. Schachter. "He was on the team as a freshman and every year after that. Everyone takes a 100-question individual test. Daniel has scored in the top five every year. This year he got first place in his category."

Daniel was tops in the personal finance category, while Barrington's Annika Kelly was the top finisher in health and safety; Willis Bilderback was the top finisher in the consumer rights and responsibilities category; and CJ Hilty was tops in the technology category. Each of the first place winners was awarded $500.

This was the first time in the 25-year history of the LifeSmarts program that four students from the same school won first place in their individual categories. 

In addition, Annika also won first place in a privacy-related essay contest and won a $2,000 scholarship. (CJ finished as one of the runners-up in the essay contest.)

"It was very rewarding for me as a coach, to see all of their hard work come through in the end," Mr. Schachter said. 

Mr. Schachter said this year's LifeSmarts team was a great group of students. To prepare for competitions, the students met once a week, after school on Mondays, and as the finals drew nearer, they began practicing twice a week. 

The team continued to practice while in Florida, during meals and an free-time trip to Disney World. 

"We were running through questions while we were in line (for the rides)," said Mr. Schachter. 

"They were vigilant. They really, really wanted this."

A total of 39 teams from across the country competed at LifeSmarts nationals this year. 

Strong finish

Daniel Sheinberg has been a member of the Barrington LifeSmarts program since he was a freshman at the high school. In his four-year LifeSmarts career, Daniel has been to nationals four times and has finished in the top five on the individual assessments each year. 

• 2016: Fifth place finish in technology

• 2017: Second place finish in environment

• 2018: Second place finish in health and safety

• 2019: First place finish in personal finance

• Coach's thoughts: "I have never met a student more passionate about learning than Daniel," said BHS coach Sam Schachter.