Hightstown High School Captures State Consumer Bowl Championship

HIGHTSTOWN, NJ — 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, the State Attorney General’s Office announced.

Hightstown took 75 points in Tuesday’s final at the Hughes Justice Complex in Trenton to take home the crown. Irvington High School placed second with 55 points, and Moorestown Friends School took home third with a score of 45.

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, which qualified for the finals by winning the Mercer County and Central Regional titles, was up against two teams with strong histories in the Consumer Bowl. Irvington won the competition in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Moorestown Friends won in 2016.

Moorestown Friends was in this year’s final after victories in the Burlington County and Southern Regional competitions, and Irvington emerged from the Essex County and Northern Regional competitions.
In this year’s tight final, Hightstown maintained the lead through the second and third series of questions, and opened up its lead in the lightning round, which featured questions on such topics as beauty parlor regulations and rent-to-own businesses.

Overall topics included home improvement contractors, fraudulent charities, credit repair and reporting, charitable giving and consumer fraud, among others.

“The best tool for fighting fraud in the marketplace is an informed consumer,” Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino said. “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.”

Hightstown’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,” Teleposky said.

The following students represented Hightstown High School in the final competition:

• Jasman Singh, captain

• Shivam Verma

• Sree Chinta

• Dhruv Samdani

• Devashru Patel

• Steven Cohen

• John Titicula

Schools interested in competing in next year’s Consumer Bowl may contact the State Division of Consumer Affairs at 973-504-6441.

The attached image of the winning team from Hightstown High School was provided by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs: From left, From left, Hightstown High School Consumer Bowl teacher/adviser David Teleposky stands with Sree Chinta, Dhruv Samdani, Devashru Patel, Steven Cohen, New Jersey Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino, Shivam Verma, John Titicula and Jasman Singh.