Freehold Township Students Win County Consumer Bowl

Raiyan Hossain, Karim Lakhani, Amit Bachani, Deputy Director Lillian G. Burry, Michael Galanaugh (Team Captain), Christopher Galiano, Dan Cooper (Teacher/Advisor)

A team of five Freehold Township High School whiz kids prevailed against students from Colts Neck High School, Freehold High School, Howell High School, Manalapan High School, Marlboro High School, Raritan High School and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School yesterday and were crowned the Monmouth County champs of the annual Consumer Bowl, a a game-show-style competition for teams of high school students which was held at the Fire Academy in Howell.

Students from the eight high schools answered consumer-related questions in a multiple choice and open-ended format to test their knowledge of consumer issues, such as Internet fraud and buying and leasing automobiles

In the final round, the Patriots defeated the Colonials of Freehold (Boro) High School in the Battle of Freehold.

“All of our participating young adults gained some knowledge about what it takes to help them be smarter consumers and possibly future consumer advocates,” said Freeholder Deputy Director Lillian G. Burry, liaison to the County’s Division of Consumer Affairs. “It is also a great way to promote the County’s Consumer Affairs office, which enforces consumer laws and helps people who suspect they might be victims of unscrupulous business practices.”

The Freehold Township team now moves on to the regional competition on April 12 with home field advantage. The Central Regional round will be held at the Monmouth County Fire Academy. The Patriots will face off with teams from Voorhees High School, Governor Livingston High School, Middlesex County Academy and the winners of the Ocean, Mercer and Somerset competitions.

The winner of the Central Regional competition will go on to compete with the Southern and Northern Region Champs in the 2018 New Jersey State Consumer Bowl scheduled for May 18 in Trenton.

The New Jersey High School Consumer Bowl is a program of the state Department of Law and Public Safety, Division of Consumer Affairs. It was established in 1997 to help students learn about consumer issues that will benefit them throughout their lives.