A night of unmatched energy and entertainment on Broad Street
COLUMNIST SEVERO AVILA
Apr 26, 2025
I wish y’all could have felt the energy at the Rome City Auditorium on Thursday night.
It should be the goal of every event organizer to have the crowd participation and sheer volume that folks brought to the “Are You Smarter than a 3rd Grader?”
The event is an annual fundraiser for the Rome-Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth, and it’s set up like the popular TV show that was hosted by Jeff Foxworthy. Only that show featured fifth graders.
The point behind the local focus on third graders is a great one. Apparently, third grade is an important age when many young students are developing their reading and comprehension skills, and so this highlights their educational growth-spurt, if you will.
The competition pits local community leaders against third graders in a trivia contest that covers a variety of topics including math, science, social studies and language arts.
But let me tell you, the environment is chaotic in the best way possible.
Here’s how it’s set up: All of the adults are on stage for the entire show. Sixteen third graders representing several local schools get to compete with the grownups in groups of eight kids each.
I was fortunate enough to have a front-row seat to the whole thing since they asked me and the City of Rome’s Courtnay Griffin to emcee the show.
This year’s adult participants were Stephanie Dean, Ghee Wilson (the clown prince of Rome), Tiffany Taylor, Autumn Bridges (who brought so much fun energy to the stage), Brad Gilmore, Shaylan Johnson, Stephen Taylor (who should have his own comedy sketch show) and Dr. Bethany Jackson. These folks raised funds for months leading up to the big night. And then they played the “villains” on the night of the show to allow the kids to shine.
Of course the competition itself was entertaining, with each adult going toe-to-toe with the kids. It was great to see the kids being fierce competitors and not backing down from the challenges of the adults.
I have to admit that although the questions were geared toward a third grade level, I was flabbergasted at how difficult some of them were. But the kids didn’t miss a beat. Many of them breezed through their questions.
But the coolest part of the night was simply seeing how the lower level of the Rome City Auditorium was packed with community members who were loud and boisterous and kept the energy high the entire time.
Parents, family members, classmates, school administrators and staff all made signs, banners, wore silly costumes and formed incredible cheering sections for their favorite contestants.
Lots of schools were represented, but I distinctly remember Johnson Elementary, St. Mary’s Catholic School and Darlington having a VERY LOUD presence. It should come as a surprise to no one that the wonderful Christa Jackson was front and center, leading the St. Mary’s school contingency in cheering and supporting.
It was truly a night of school spirit and community spirit.
Unity Christian School even had their lion mascot at the event, which was great to see.
And even schools with smaller cheering sections were still extremely vocal and made each third grader feel completely loved and supported. It was so special to see each kid have their moment in the spotlight with the entire auditorium cheering them on and applauding their efforts.
I have to mention here that one of the third grader contestants was Cole Nabors, representing Armuchee Elementary. Many of you will know that it was only a few short weeks ago that Cole and his mama, Hannah Nabors, were involved in a terrible wreck. Hannah took to social media and posted a photo of a smiling Cole running across the stage after earning a point for his team. The caption read, “From hanging upside down by a seatbelt eight weeks ago to owning the stage, Cole Thomas absolutely lived his best life at RFCCCY’s Are you Smarter than a Third Grader event!”
And if for no other reason, this event was a success. It made a little boy who has been through a traumatic experience forget about his troubles for a while and feel like a hero in front of the whole town.
But of course that wasn’t the only reason this event was a success. It raised close to $30,000 for RFCCCY’s programs and services throughout the community.
Autumn Bridges, with her fun get-up and energetic stage presence, took home the People’s Choice Award, while the Golden Apple Award (for adult contestant who raised the most money on the night of the event) went to Stephen Taylor. The Teacher’s Pet was for the contestant who raised the most money overall and that was Ghee Wilson, while all the screaming, cheering and applauding paid off for Johnson Elementary Wildcats who won the School Spirit Award.
If you were a part of this event you know how special it was.
And if you weren’t, I hope you’ll consider attending next year.
I get to attend a lot of community events throughout the year, and I can promise you this is one of the most entertaining and energetic ones you’ll see. You can truly feel the love in the building and seeing all the kids enjoy the spotlight will melt your heart.
I hope to see y’all there next year.
I wish y’all could have felt the energy at the Rome City Auditorium on Thursday night.
It should be the goal of every event organizer to have the crowd participation and sheer volume that folks brought to the “Are You Smarter than a 3rd Grader?”
The event is an annual fundraiser for the Rome-Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth, and it’s set up like the popular TV show that was hosted by Jeff Foxworthy. Only that show featured fifth graders.
The point behind the local focus on third graders is a great one. Apparently, third grade is an important age when many young students are developing their reading and comprehension skills, and so this highlights their educational growth-spurt, if you will.
The competition pits local community leaders against third graders in a trivia contest that covers a variety of topics including math, science, social studies and language arts.
But let me tell you, the environment is chaotic in the best way possible.
Here’s how it’s set up: All of the adults are on stage for the entire show. Sixteen third graders representing several local schools get to compete with the grownups in groups of eight kids each.
I was fortunate enough to have a front-row seat to the whole thing since they asked me and the City of Rome’s Courtnay Griffin to emcee the show.
This year’s adult participants were Stephanie Dean, Ghee Wilson (the clown prince of Rome), Tiffany Taylor, Autumn Bridges (who brought so much fun energy to the stage), Brad Gilmore, Shaylan Johnson, Stephen Taylor (who should have his own comedy sketch show) and Dr. Bethany Jackson. These folks raised funds for months leading up to the big night. And then they played the “villains” on the night of the show to allow the kids to shine.
Of course the competition itself was entertaining, with each adult going toe-to-toe with the kids. It was great to see the kids being fierce competitors and not backing down from the challenges of the adults.
I have to admit that although the questions were geared toward a third grade level, I was flabbergasted at how difficult some of them were. But the kids didn’t miss a beat. Many of them breezed through their questions.
But the coolest part of the night was simply seeing how the lower level of the Rome City Auditorium was packed with community members who were loud and boisterous and kept the energy high the entire time.
Parents, family members, classmates, school administrators and staff all made signs, banners, wore silly costumes and formed incredible cheering sections for their favorite contestants.
Lots of schools were represented, but I distinctly remember Johnson Elementary, St. Mary’s Catholic School and Darlington having a VERY LOUD presence. It should come as a surprise to no one that the wonderful Christa Jackson was front and center, leading the St. Mary’s school contingency in cheering and supporting.
It was truly a night of school spirit and community spirit.
Unity Christian School even had their lion mascot at the event, which was great to see.
And even schools with smaller cheering sections were still extremely vocal and made each third grader feel completely loved and supported. It was so special to see each kid have their moment in the spotlight with the entire auditorium cheering them on and applauding their efforts.
I have to mention here that one of the third grader contestants was Cole Nabors, representing Armuchee Elementary. Many of you will know that it was only a few short weeks ago that Cole and his mama, Hannah Nabors, were involved in a terrible wreck. Hannah took to social media and posted a photo of a smiling Cole running across the stage after earning a point for his team. The caption read, “From hanging upside down by a seatbelt eight weeks ago to owning the stage, Cole Thomas absolutely lived his best life at RFCCCY’s Are you Smarter than a Third Grader event!”
And if for no other reason, this event was a success. It made a little boy who has been through a traumatic experience forget about his troubles for a while and feel like a hero in front of the whole town.
But of course that wasn’t the only reason this event was a success. It raised close to $30,000 for RFCCCY’s programs and services throughout the community.
Autumn Bridges, with her fun get-up and energetic stage presence, took home the People’s Choice Award, while the Golden Apple Award (for adult contestant who raised the most money on the night of the event) went to Stephen Taylor. The Teacher’s Pet was for the contestant who raised the most money overall and that was Ghee Wilson, while all the screaming, cheering and applauding paid off for Johnson Elementary Wildcats who won the School Spirit Award.
If you were a part of this event you know how special it was.
And if you weren’t, I hope you’ll consider attending next year.
I get to attend a lot of community events throughout the year, and I can promise you this is one of the most entertaining and energetic ones you’ll see. You can truly feel the love in the building and seeing all the kids enjoy the spotlight will melt your heart.
I hope to see y’all there next year.
Severo Avila is Features Editor for the Rome News-Tribune.