Fulton County Ohio Media

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Beginning with the entire 7^th-Grade student body and against strong competition throughout all four rounds of Swanton Middle School’s Amazing Shake Competition, Maria Avery was chosen as the winner in the finals by a panel of five judges.  Narrowly edging out Isabella Jiannuzzi and Slade Wielinski, Maria will now compete in the Global Amazing Shake Competition in March of 2027 at the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta.

The Amazing Shake is a competition that focuses on building soft skills in students, placing strong emphasis on manners, discipline, respect, and professional behavior.  In all four rounds, the students demonstrated these skills, first in front of local business leaders and other professionals, then with presentations conducted at The Anderson’s Inc. headquarters in Maumee and later at Worthington Steel in Delta.

In the Finals, held on Friday afternoon, all three finalists were separately interviewed by the Master of Ceremonies, former Toledo 11 sportscaster Jordan Strack.  They all conducted themselves in a very professional manner, showed poise, confidence, were very articulate and displayed the ability to think on their feet as Mr. Strack fired question after question in their direction.  The excellent performances of Isabella, Slade, and Maria on stage in front of the entire Swanton Middle School as well as their families in attendance, left the judges with the extremely difficult task of having to select just one.

Once interviews were complete, the five judges (Jessica Double of Worthington Steel, Kristen Price of Owens Community College, Cara Leininger of Ohio Means Jobs/Fulton County, Eric Nagel-Eastern Fulton County Judge, Evan Bon of Fulton County Economic Development Corporation) were sent to a separate room to compare notes, total scores, and determine the winner.  During the intermission, several students put on a talent show featuring piano and flute playing, dancing, poetry reading, joke telling and a slam dunk display.

Finally, with excitement and anticipation at its highest level, Isabella, Slade, and Maria were brought back onto the stage.  Evelyn Keys, last year’s winner, opened the envelope containing the name everyone was waiting to hear, paused just long enough to put the entire crowd on the edge of their seats, and announced Maria Avery as the 2026 winner of the SMS Amazing Shake.

“I’m so happy I won.  I just feel bad for everyone else. I wish I could take them all with me,” said a very emotional Maria.  I’m so excited, I just can’t wait.  The Ron Clark Academy seems so interesting and so amazing to me,” she added about what she will be looking forward to on her first trip to the state of Georgia.

“I’ve learned so much from this.  I’m an introverted person.  I’m not very good at meeting new people or starting conversations.  Being in the Shake gave me an opportunity to be myself, come out of my shell and meet and talk to new people and I’m so glad I did this,” said Maria.

“After that first round I was really surprised when she came home and let it all out when there was so much pressure that had built up.  She held it in all day long and did really well at the stations and talking one on one.  For an introvert, I think that is so difficult,” said Emily, Maria’s mother.  “But she loves it.  She has loved this whole journey.”  Next Spring, for Maria, the journey will continue.

Click on the link above to access photos from the Amazing Shake Finals. 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: Maria Avery