December is arguably one of the months when consumers buy lots of stuff, but kids nowadays are getting better at buying smart. For instance, three exceptional Wavell State High School students were amongst the winners of the Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) Buy Smart Competition for school-age students.
The Buy Smart Competition challenges students to get creative and share what they know about shopping and money issues. The competition helps young consumers show what they know about refund rights, scams, online shopping, product labelling, and more.
According to Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath, the array of high-quality entries received for this year’s competition showcased the students’ excellent consumer knowledge as well as their artistic and technical skills.
“The Buy Smart Competition challenges students in Years 4 to 12 to choose a consumer issue, research it, then present it as an interesting creative project that can educate their chosen audience,” she said.
“Young people are being brought up in a digital age and are exposed to social media, online advertising and app store purchases earlier than ever before, so I’m pleased to know many of our young consumers are learning to identify consumer-related risks.”
Wavell State High Buy Smart Competition Winners
More than 6,000 students participated in Buy Smart school presentations this year and the Office of Fair Trading received entries from more than 750 students.
For Wavell State High School, Kyle Montgomery got the Highly Commended award for the Years 10–12 category.
Other smart young consumers from the state high include Hannah Viney and Lani Raghavan who won second place for the Years 7–9 category.
Following is the full list of winners for Buy Smart Competition 2018:
Category Years 4–6
First: Mckenzie Kirkham – St Paul’s Lutheran Primary School (Caboolture)
Second: Matthew Mynett and Soren Zschech – Kurwongbah State School (Petrie)
Third: Skye Hetaraka and McKenzie Sanker – Boondall State School (Boondall)
Highly Commended:
- Ella Macuga and Lucy Stone – Nundah State School (Nundah)
- Amelia Gray and Emma Heijboer – Kurwongbah State School (Petrie)
- Nicholas Bray Alex Wong, Jonathon Culley, and Mitchell Burchard – Faith Lutheran College (Victoria Point)
Category Years 7–9
First: Emily Baxter and Sarah Fenner – Loreto College (Coorparoo)
Second: Hannah Viney and Lani Raghavan – Wavell State High School (Wavell Heights)
Third: Zion Cordero, Sebastian Hurcum and Mack Geiger – Trinity College (Gladstone)
Highly Commended:
- Madelize Breet and Alison Wu – Sheldon College (Sheldon)
- Lily Ji and Tiana Tong – St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School (Corinda)
- Caitlin Turner – Clayfield College (Clayfield)
- Amelia Wakefield – Redlands College (Wellington Point)
- Drishti – Toolooa State High School (Gladstone Central)
- Angela Greer – James Nash State High School (Gympie)
Category Years 10–12
First: Paris Teevan, Taya Kesby and Eloise O’Donnell – St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School (Corinda)
Second: Elisa Tamai, Gabrielle Christou, and Rose Ringelstein – St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School (Corinda)
Third: Khushi Kadia and Jasmine Kaur – Aspley State High School (Aspley)
Highly Commended: Kyle Montgomery – Wavell State High School (Wavell Heights)
Commissioner’s School Champion
Bullyard State School (Bullyard)
For further information, visit the Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) Buy Smart Competition website.