• AS

    At Peine Ridge Elementary, we emphasize teaching our students manners, discipline, respect, and how to conduct themselves in a professional environment. This annual contest, modeled after the Ron Clark Academy, allows us to test our students on these skills through a fun and memorable experience and enables us to engage with local business leaders on behalf of the school. The competition also introduces the students to the networks, roles, opportunities, and career paths that they may not have been exposed to before.

    During the Amazing Shake, students learn and develop professional qualities — from the mechanics of a proper handshake to how to “work the room” — so that they can present themselves exceptionally well for opportunities today and in the future.

  • THE GAUNTLET: The Gauntlet is a fast-paced series of creative and unique scenarios to challenge the students and is always a big spectacle! Round 1 transforms our school into a giant obstacle course where each station is a creative challenge paired with a local business leader from the community as the judge. The students go through each station one at a time, spending one minute interacting with the volunteering judge. During that time, the business leader judges the student on qualities such as handshake firmness, eye contact, confidence, common sense, and more. At the end of Round 1, the top students will advance to the next round. 

    THE CIRCLE OF DOOM: This station consists of speed-dating style questions dealing with topics such as current events, local issues, and creative solutions. Students will have one minute to respond to the question and be scored. Students will meet a total of eight different judges.

    WORK THE ROOM: Students will circulate the room to have quality "small talk" with as many judges during the allotted time. Judges will score on introduction, handshake, confidence, and conversation quality. This is your opportunity to let your conversation skills shine. You will need to circulate the room and chat with several judges in your session. You may need to smoothly transition conversations as others may join you and move on quickly. Remember...

    • Greet: Introduce yourself and shake hands. Smile and be memorable!
    • Chat: This is an opportunity for you to share something interesting about yourself but also be a good listener and conversation connector.
    • Score: Be sure to ask the judge to score you before you move on to another conversation. You will not be able to ask at the end of this session.