Fulton County Ohio Media

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This past Wednesday, the Swanton Middle School (SMS) held the first round of the award-winning Amazing Shake competition.  A two-hour school delay because of fog did nothing to deflate the enthusiasm or the focus of the competing students they entered the gymnasium, becoming the eighth group of SMS seventh-graders in the history of the Swanton Seven Program to pit their skills against the Amazing Shake Gauntlet.

The Amazing Shake is a competition that focuses on building soft skills in students, placing strong emphasis on manners, discipline, respect, and professional behavior. To demonstrate these skills, students worked their way through “The Gauntlet.”  There were 21 stations in “The Gauntlet” and each put students’ abilities to the test.  Each student had to show great poise and confidence in personal interactions as well as exhibit effective management skills.  And, they were given just 90 seconds at each station.

The stations included, among other challenges, several interviews, circles of conversation, knowledge of current events and popular faces in the news, business dining skills, telephone skills, appointment skills and business dress skills.  Every student was graded on a scale of 1-10 by volunteers from the local business community, community leaders, academic leaders and other professionals.  Scores were totaled and 20 students were chosen to move on to the next round.  Eventually, one winner will be selected and will be sent to Atlanta to compete in the national competition at the Ron Clark Academy next year.  The Ron Clark Academy is a highly-acclaimed, non-profit middle school that has received both national and international recognition for its success in creating a loving, dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence and leadership.

The program ended with 20 students being named to continue on to the next round.  The first 17 names, regardless of score, were randomly called to come to the front to receive a handshake and a certificate of their achievement from Principal Nicolette Stark and Vice-Principal Dakota Ulrich.  The top three finishers were then announced.  Tied for second with 181 out of 210 points were Paisley Abbot and Isabella Jiannuzzi.  Finishing in first place was Charlotte Smith with 185 points.

“Even with the fog delay and the last quick minute pivots, our team and our guess judges put together a fantastic day for our students.  We’ve already been hearing from several of the students that they wish they could go back and do it all over again because they enjoyed it so much,” commented Principal Stark who is in her first year in the position.  “We absolutely loved getting to watch them shine in their element, and put into action all the life skills they have been learning through our Swanton Seven Program since the day they walked through the SMS doors as fifth-graders.  These are skills that will continue to benefit them their entire lives and I know I speak for my entire team when I say we could not be more proud of them.”

Two more rounds of competition will be held, both off site.  One at The Andersons in Toledo and the other at Blue Star North Scope in Delta.  Each round will pare the group down from 20 to 10 and finally to four or possibly three for the final competition back at SMS. Points earned in any round does not carry over to the next round.

Click on the link above to access photos from the event. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded and shared for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.

Photo: The top 20 Amazing Shake finalists. Back Row (L to R): Jason Harris-Caldwell, Charlotte Smith, Anniston Bishop, Kathryn Schlender, Liam Steiner, Brayden Hamilton, Jordan Jones, Isabella Kosier, Brooklyn Van Winkle, Chloe Lu, Maria Avery Front Row (L to R): Benico Denman, Morgana Diaz, Paisley Abbot, Paesyn Rhodes, Isabella Jiannuzzi, Kyla Tressler, Paityn Hendricks, Slade Wielinski, Parker Shaver