NCA Hosts an ‘Amazing Shake’

On Saturday, April 13th, Neighborhood Centers Association (NCA) hosted its inaugural Amazing Shake Competition for Cleveland Metropolitan School District scholars in 5th through 8th grade. The Amazing Shake is a dynamic and exciting live competition that gathers leaders and role models in a school’s community to teach students about professional skills for success. On Saturday morning, 20 scholars from Charles A. Mooney, Garfield, Newton D. Baker, and Wade Park Schools came together to compete after six weeks of leadership and career preparation in NCA’s out-of-school-time program Partners for Student Success (P4SS).

To prepare for the Amazing Shake, 39 students developed professional qualities like the mechanics of a proper handshake and working a room so that they present themselves exceptionally well for opportunities today and in the future. NCA encouraged our students to step out of their comfort zone and discover what they can do even in the most nerve-racking situations.

The students moved through three different sessions called The Gauntlet, Work the Room, and The Circle of Doom. Each session became more competitive, and students were eliminated until there were only three remaining. Volunteers presented each scholar with an obstacle course of real-world professional situations provided by NCA. The situations ranged from “tell me why you deserve a raise” to an on-the-fly commercial selling the latest iPhone to participating in a pre-scripted cooking show. When the scholar walked away, the volunteer scored the child based on handshake firmness, eye contact, confidence, charisma, and poise. The judges’ scoring and feedback will help the students develop professionally.

Several judges reflected on how they wish they had participated in something like the Amazing Shake in middle school and beyond as preparation for future interviews and networking events.
The final interview round consisted of the top three performers individually being interviewed by NCA’s Executive Director Allison Wallace and local realtor Anna Lee Rindskopf. These conversations allowed the finalists to reflect on their performances’ strengths and weaknesses. The top three finalists all came from Wade Park School in Cleveland’s historic Hough Neighborhood. The Amazing Shake was such a success for our students that it will become a cornerstone of NCA’s Youth Leadership Program moving forward.