The Osiris Challenge
Written by Holli Welcker, No Bio on Thursday, March 24, 2016
The senior mythology classes taught by Linda Sparks and Kinga Thomas are participating in what they call the "Osiris Challenge," where they are encouraged to get involved in a curriculum-incorporated scavenger hunt around the school.
The scavenger hunt is based on the Egyptian myth of Osiris. In the myth, Osiris was hacked into fourteen bits by his jealous brother Set. Osiris's devoted wife Isis then went around the world and collected all the parts, but failed to recover the fourteenth body part, also known as his genitals, which was eaten by a fish.
It is the first year the mythology department tried out the scavenger hunt.
Originally Thomas' idea, she then proceeded to buy a baby doll and cut it into fourteen pieces. Every two weeks, students are given a visual clue, either in the form of Egyptian or Mayan hieroglyphs. After that, they are to interpret the clue and find missing body part hidden within various classrooms around the campus. For every picture taken proving the discovery, the teams of 4 to 6 members gets ten points.
The top teams of each class are exempt from the end of the year final.
"I definitely thing it's worth the time," said senior Jeffrey Smith. "We have to think about Egyptian mythology in order go out and 'scavenge,' and you really get to understand how a decryptor might work and how they might get frustrated."
"It is a cool, neat blend of fun but research too," said Thomas. "It's been a blast.
"It's really fun and challenging and makes you think. It gets you to interact with teachers you wouldn't otherwise," senior Ruby Hunt said. "I would do this again because it really brings out the competitive nature in our class. It gets us to work in groups and is a great way to channel our energy. It also hilarious to see the competition between groups."
"This is a college level class and it's very academic, so this gives it a playful aspect, making it so that it's fun to come in class each day," said Thomas.
