Butler Tech recently wrapped up its first-ever EMPOWER Challenge, a district-wide competition designed to support the development and implementation of student norms. Modeled after the NCAA tournament, the challenge moved through multiple elimination rounds, with students showcasing their professionalism, networking, and employability skills.
The Road to the Finals
The competition began with all Butler Tech campuses, associate schools, and Project LIFE/Project SEARCH (PL/PS) programs participating in a professional handshake challenge. Each classroom held its own competition, with winners receiving Linq networking cards. These winners then advanced to the campus and satellite region round, where they added an elevator pitch to their handshake.
The top competitors from each campus and satellite region then moved on to the Executive Leadership round, where they demonstrated their handshake, elevator pitch, and networking skills to Butler Tech’s CORE leadership team. These students received BT swag and invaluable feedback from district leaders.
After intense competition, the field was narrowed to seven outstanding finalists:
- Tanya Medina (Bioscience Center) – Teacher: Lisa von Haefen
- Sean Clark (10th Grade Academy, DRL) – Teacher: Traci Allgor
- Caylin Baugus (Dance, School of the Arts) – Teacher: Jody Mangino
- Lilah Ball (Freshman, Hamilton) – Teacher: Lindsey Wilkey
- Hunter Guenther (Sophomore, Talawanda) – Teacher: Kari Roberts
- Nevah Davis (Project SEARCH, Middletown Atrium) – Teacher: Katie Fancher
- James Watkins (Project LIFE, DRL) – Teacher: Jake Krause
Finalists were rewarded with a VIP experience at TQL Stadium, home of FC Cincinnati, where they toured the facility and learned about the intricate world of public relations for a Major League Soccer team. A special moment for students was seeing their names displayed on the professional lockers inside the FC Cincinnati team room.
Both judges praised the students’ professionalism and skills:
“It was a great day to work with students on their professionalism, employability skills, and interviewing techniques.” – Dan Bates
“The students did an outstanding job in their panel interviews. They were great representatives of Butler Tech, their home schools, and their families. I would hire them all.” – Crissy Lauterbach
And the Winners Are…
A huge congratulations to our first-ever Butler Tech EMPOWER Challenge winners:
Tanya Medina-Fabian (Bioscience Center) – Winner of the $500 Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce Scholarship (Teacher: Lisa von Haefen)
James Watkins (Project LIFE, DRL) – Winner of a $100 Visa Gift Card, sponsored by Contact Learning (Teacher: Jake Krause
Nevah Davis (Project SEARCH, Middletown Atrium) – Winner of a $100 Visa Gift Card, sponsored by Contact Learning (Teacher: Katie Fancher)
Finalists were rewarded with:
- Valuable feedback from business and industry leaders
- A Chick-fil-A lunch
- A $500 increase in their teacher’s instructional budget
The Butler Tech EMPOWER Challenge was an incredible showcase of our students’ talent, professionalism, and future-readiness. Congratulations to all participants, and we look forward to continuing this tradition in the years to come!
