Friday's Top Five: The Hunt is On!

The faculty and staff at Shepherds College like to use scavenger hunts as a teaching tool. Not only are they fun for the students, but they teach important skills in the process of following the clues to the desired goal.

Students learn to follow directions. They problem solve using analytic and reasoning skills. They learn important facts about the subject matter.

Communication skills are developed and relationships are built as students work through the information together.

I asked the staff how scavenger hunts have been used at Shepherds College and received some innovative answers:

1.      “We did a scavenger hunt for an orientation activity to help the students learn their way around campus. The clues were about rooms or places on the grounds that would be a part of their college schedule: the gym, the picnic area, classrooms, the greenhouse, Clark apartments, the nurse’s station, the office…”

The Clark Apartments

2.      “In Culinary Arts, we do a scavenger hunt in the kitchen to find certain utensils and hand tools.”

3.      “In New Testament Letters, students did a scavenger hunt to find the location, author and recipients of the books of Hebrews, Romans, Galatians, Colossians and Ephesians. We also did one on Paul’s journeys!”

4.      “The first and second-year students go on a field trip to Petrifying Springs for a scavenger hunt. They are given a list of things to find in nature.”

5.      “I did a picture scavenger hunt in Health class. We were talking about privacy and I split my first-year girls up into two teams. ‘The Private I’s’ had to take pictures of ten places that were considered private. ‘The rePublic’ had to take ten pictures of public places. Both groups reconvened and made posters of their findings to present to the class. They came up with the team names themselves!”

Private Locker Rooms

Public Parking Lot

Scavenger hunts sound like so much fun that I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be entertaining to end the week with a scavenger hunt just for our readers?’ Why not, right?

So here goes! The very first Shepherds College blog scavenger hunt.

We probably need some rules:

Follow the clues below through the blog site. The first person to post the correct response in the Comments section gets an amazing gift – for humoring me by playing along. I won’t allow the comments to post until Monday so no one can see the answers before they're ready. I will notify the scavenger hunt champion of their victory – also in the Comments section – and request contact information via email at that time to send the gift. This hunt is open to anyone reading this blog, even Shepherds College staff, since I’m the only one who knows the answer.

And now for the amazing gift – Ask anyone who knows me what I keep on my filing cabinet in back of my desk and they’ll answer “Seroogy’s.” For those of you who think I just named one of the characters from Fraggle Rock, Seroogy’s is only the best gourmet chocolate shop in the state of Wisconsin. I have a variety pack of Seroogy’s candy bars for the victor of the hunt.

I think I covered everything, so here goes:

A teacher is carrying a tune.

Can you hear it?

Listen to the love of a student for his teaching

this product of the Spirit.

With this clue in mind,

find the blog where it grows.

Dig under the roots

until you reach the pit of the prose.

Feeling keen with your new insight?

Head to the blog

that links to this delight.

You’re showing strength of character.

You’ve almost completed the task.

Now click the correct link

and answer the question that I ask!

You’ve made an investment

of your time in this game.

Just head to the quote

that speaks of the same.

What are the last three words to the quote?

Let the hunt begin!

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.