Grand Rapids — If Nusra Juma ever runs for public office, she won’t have to think too hard about how to frame her platform. The Ottawa Hills High School junior got plenty of practice during the Ottawa Gauntlet.
The Gauntlet — a month-long, four-round scholarship competition that develops soft skills such as confidence, poise, humility, discipline, courage, empathy and more — challenged students to act out various scenarios as they vied for points from community-volunteer judges.
A scenario in the competition’s third round asked students to drum up support for a political campaign and Nusra, an immigrant from Africa, drew upon her own experience when responding.
‘Our kids here at Ottawa are amazing. They have so much talent and skills and smarts. I want to bring out those soft skills and develop them more.’
— Ottawa Hills teacher Jennifer Sharp
“We’re kind of lacking in diversity, so I would like to increase the capacity of the immigration program,” Nusra told judges. “That way we not only help people from other places by welcoming them to our city, but we also grow as a city ourselves.”
Asked why the issue was important to her, Nusra replied: “After coming here, I did not feel welcomed enough. I did not feel appreciated as a new person. I don’t want to say I had way more support where I was — it’s better here — but I would just like to make it much better for (immigrants).”
Replied judge Abdul Ciise of Grand Valley State University’s TRIO Educational Talent Search: “You definitely have my vote.”
Nusra said she felt like she did an “awesome” job, and that she was well-prepared for the challenges. Judges seemed to agree, as Nusra, along with sophomore Justin Hendricks and juniors Tanel Quinones-Arriaga and Sanaya Thompson were each among the competition’s four finalists. Nusra, Tanel and Justin each received $2,000 scholarships, and Sanaya finished first with a $5,000 scholarship.
Scholarship funds were donated by Prosper Financial Group and New York Life, said Ottawa art teacher Jennifer Sharp, who spearheaded the Gauntlet.
Different Approaches
While Nusra came prepared, other contestants took a more informal approach. Justin admitted that he didn’t review the third-round scenarios much in advance, but he still fared well enough to make it to the finals.
In a hypothetical bid for a board of education seat, the sophomore said he’d improve school culture by prohibiting cell phones except in emergencies, and instituting a dress code including uniforms.
Judges told him he spoke well off the cuff, but they asked him to imagine how well he’d do if he’d taken more time to prepare.
“I’m just going from the heart and what I know,” Justin replied.
In the same challenge, sophomore Jeffrey Segura, who hails from the Dominican Republic, said the education system is less stable where he comes from, and that if elected he’d aim to strengthen education systems in the U.S.
“What I want to do is to try to improve education,” Jeffrey said. “Maybe reduce the amount of students in classrooms, and maybe improve … education so students are interested in learning (so they) want to stay inside the classroom instead of skipping.”
The campaigning scenario was just one of several contestants faced as they made their way through the competition. Others included pitching a service to an interested company, cooking a meal for an audience, and assuming the role of a White House press secretary fielding questions from journalists, among others.
The activities teach traits that “the students don’t necessarily get a lot of at this age, but would really benefit them going forward,” said Sharp.
Building Skills: ‘It’s really wonderful to see’
Sharp said the contestants showed growth over the course of the competition, becoming more confident and engaged with each passing round.
“I’m just really proud of our students for stepping up and doing this,” Sharp said. “When I first started it, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know if they’re going to come out of their shells to do this (or) get out of their comfort zones,’ and they have. They really have. And it’s really wonderful to see.”
Sharp said she brought the competition to Ottawa Hills because she saw a gap in soft skills students will need later in life. She wanted to help address that, and bring those skills to the fore.
“Our kids here at Ottawa are amazing,” she said. “They have so much talent and skills and smarts. I want to bring out those soft skills and develop them more.”
The goal is to bring back the competition next year, and to once again include community donors and partners like Grand Valley State University, which judged this year’s second round.
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