Freshmen class hunts for buried treasure
<p>Members of the Freshmen class from Plains High School examine the contents of a container they found using GPS technology.</p>
The Plains High School freshmen class, led by teacher Sandy Revier, engaged in the outdoor recreational activity known as “geocaching” on Wednesday.
Geocaching is essentially a treasure hunt for the 21st century. Participants use Global Positioning System receivers or other mobile devices to find containers hidden anywhere in the world.
A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook where the geocacher enters the date they found it and their name before placing the container back where they found it. Larger containers contain items for trading such as toys or trinkets.
The students on Wednesday packed themselves on a bus along with Revier and headed up River Road West before unloading near the swimming hole known as “the mouth” near Swamp Creek. The students headed out into the woods climbing a slight hill before locating the ammunition box cache under some rocks.
As the ammunition box was discovered, students gathered around to sign their names and explore the contents. The first box contained a few small trinkets along with the logbook. Students signed their names, returned the box and then headed off for the second location closer to the swimming hole.
As some students chose to forego the second box in favor of dipping their toes in the water, a group of about ten students made their way up the adjacent hill and found the second cache. The contents were similar to the first cache so students signed their names and returned the box to its designated spot.
Revere said, “This is a fun way for the kids to get out of the classroom.”
The game of geocaching began shortly after GPS technology became widely available to the public in May 2000. Participants log onto websites that supply coordinates for locations all over the world. Players can work in teams or alone.