When the clock struck 7:30 AM on a Wednesday morning, January 29, the Ashland High School Scavenger Hunt team got in the zone; the State of Jefferson Scavenger Hunt was officially on. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the hunt is a three day event where 12 area high schools go head to head, racing to answer a medley of questions and tasks composed by the directors of the hunt and are given until 3:30 PM the following Friday afternoon, January 31, to submit their answers to the judges. Students who participate in Scavenger Hunt have to decide which classes to be excused from, with permission from parents and teachers, in order to compete to their fullest ability and complete the tasks in an efficient and timely manner. They stay until seven or eight at night the first two days to search for answers and the complete citations. Some of the assignments range from traveling to out-of-town libraries, to snapping a selfie with a llama and even performing a musical concerto (and by that I mean the random mariachi band that graced the half-moon the other week)

In cases where some questions are out of the team’s area of expertise, they call on some backup. “When the questions arrive, I shoot them out to everybody,” says Librarian and Coach of AHS’ Scavenger Hunt team, Hazel Smith. Her genius strategy is to send out the questions to family, friends and staff to take advantage of the knowledge shared between the networks. Hazel says, “Scavenger Hunt really pulls in the whole community.”

Scavenger Hunt is fun, provides lawyer-like experience like adjudicating the answers to questions that at least one team answered incorrectly and challenges the team members to think outside the box.

“The team just had a blast. It’s kind of like a glorified easter egg hunt but more intense. The courtroom-style adjudication process is an exciting experience. You’re fighting for your case. You’re buzzed. It’s an awesome experience,” Smith adds. The team had a fantastic time, and finished the competition in third place. For those of you who would like to know more about next year’s upcoming Scavenger Hunt, information and sign-up sheets will start to surface in November. They’d love to see you next year.