A Hunt for Gold

It may not have been gold, but through a 6th grader's eyes, a pot full of chocolate gold coins is just as valuable.

When I first mentioned the idea of planning a St. Patrick's Day scavenger hunt for the 6th grade to my head teacher, Rebeca, I didn't realize I was setting myself in for an entire month of deep strategic thinking, craftiness and some pretty tricky scheming.

What started out as making a few clues led to making 36 clues with 5 different routes. A hunt through the playground turned into a school-wide hunt, covering classrooms, hallways and even the bathrooms. Easy sentences for clues turned into clever riddles that took a few good strolls through the school hallways to craft up. And all this while of course coming up with English grammar and science questions that accompanied each clue before they could move on to the next. I ended up even having to translate one of the cheat-sheet cards given to each "chaperone" with the clues, questions and answers for the math teacher who only knows Spanish.

I must say, I was a mastermind.

The day finally arrived and I was all nerves with 60 students coming dressed in green, so excited for this St. Patrick's Day hunt (something they'd never done before). I showed up early to the school in my sparkly green hat and sequined green tie, running around like a madman setting up all the clues. THIS WAS GOING TO WORK.

And it did. The hunt was such a success. With only a little help from me, my group hit all the clues. But when they solved a clue, before moving to the next they had to answer the grammar/science question correctly in order to move on. They did so well, and I was really proud! Maybe we should have a pot of gold waiting for the students after every exam they take...

The last clue led all the groups back to the classroom to scrummage around for the pot of gold. My group unfortunatley didn't win, but everyone got a piece of chocolate anyway.

The day was a success, for the students and for the teachers. You know it goes well when the students have fun without even realizing they are working together as a team, and most importantly, learning. On this St. Patrick's Day, we definitely found the pot of gold!

Inés, Jorge and Leo, being festive.