On Wednesday, September 6, PHS held the second annual Amazing Race. Each homeroom classroom was competing against each other trying to complete tasks around the building. History Teacher Chris Lindley and Science Teacher Lori Stroud worked with a committee over the summer to get this competition up and running and make it fun for students and teachers.
This competition is designed to encourage students to think of the best possible strategies to try and win. Depending on the station, communication and teamwork were needed to complete the task and move on to the next station.
The committee in charge of the project decided to make changes from the first year about how the race was conducted to make the process easier to tally points, as well as new strategic methods for students and teachers to use.
“Instead of sending in photographs, a process we found cumbersome last year, we used a Taskport that had a spot for each activity. The monitor at that station would then punch the card when the activity was completed. Since I really love the strategizing part of The Amazing Race, we included a point system that we randomly assigned to each activity. We did not tell what each was worth but suggested that the more complicated an activity was the probability of it being worth more increased. Using this system allowed us to present the awards on that day, something we had not been able to do last year. We also had some ‘amazing’ trophies to pass out,” said Lindley.
Overall, Lindley was pleased with how the event turned out.
“The biggest takeaway is that we once again saw groups using employability skills such as problem-solving and collaboration. Like last year, we had lots of enthusiasm and fun and the spirit of competition was evident,” said Lindley.
When the points were tallied, the winning homerooms were Danelle Manship’s juniors taking first place, Chris Jones’s juniors securing the second place spot, and Heather Nichols’s sophomore homeroom landing in third place.
“My homeroom stuck together and worked as a team. Each member contributed and that led to our success,” said Manship.
