Year 9 Amazing Race at Norval Outdoor School

Upper Canada College Year 9 students took part in one of their favourite activities of the school year, a simulation of The Amazing Race television show at the Norval Outdoor School, on Sept. 13.
Boys competed together in small groups affiliated with their school house and tried to complete a series of challenging tasks, games and puzzles in order to receive their next clue and advance to the next challenge. To succeed, students needed to draw upon the knowledge and skills that they’ve learned from previous Norval trips, as well as other life experiences.
 
The goal for the members of the 26 teams that took part this year was to apply learning, use varied skills, and make connections in groups and as a grade, as well as with their adviser and head of house.
 
The race takes place all over the Norval property — in the pond, river, meadow, creek, apple orchard and high ropes course — and the challenges draw on a variety of mental and physical skills to complete them,” says Norval outdoor education instructor Katie Tanz, who organized the event with Norval staff members Bill Elgie, Brent Evans, Liz Jankowski and Aaron Parcher.
 
“Challenges range from searching for crayfish in the river to finding a needle in a haystack to playing Pictionary with pancakes.”
 
A team called Jackson’s 2 emerged victorious at the end of the day.
 
It is no easy feat to complete this race,” says Tanz. “You have to have incredible endurance, competent map-reading skills, good knowledge of the property, and a well-rounded team to be able to complete all of the challenges quickly.”
 
Norval senior teacher Brent Evans came up with the idea for the race after the Year 9 high ropes program at Norval ended. The first one was held in 2015 as a pilot program where it was optional for boys to enter. About 40 took part, and it’s been an annual event for the entire Year 9 class ever since.
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