“Escape: The Museum Robbery,” will be June 7 and 10 and “Escape: Wizard World,” will be June 8 and 9 at Ridgewood, 2420 Saint Paris Pike.
Escape rooms are one of the fastest-growing \trends spreading across the country. Ridgewood alum Chris Barnes participated in adult versions in Dayton and became hooked.
“The object is there are six to eight people trapped in a room and there are themes. You have to solve a puzzle to get out in an hour and it’s timed,” Barnes said. “It’s not unlike a puzzle on a show like “Survivor” or “The Amazing Race.”’
A fifth-grade teacher at Miami East Elementary, Barnes noticed there weren’t any such escape rooms available for students. So he created his own educational version.
“I wanted to help with critical thinking skills,” he said. “More kids need to step out and explore their imaginations.”
“Escape: The Museum Robbery,” will turn the students into detectives to catch thieves who’ve stolen seven priceless artifacts from the Smithsonian Institution, including jewels from the Titanic, items from Ben Franklin and other historic treasures.
“Escape: Wizard School” finds a dark lord cursing a castle for aspiring witches and wizards. Players have an hour to save the school from doom. Participants use props such as a wand and special effects including stars, and creatures will be part of the scenario.
Ridgewood students Arin Simmons, a fifth-grader, and Thomas Edwards, a seventh-grader, are Harry Potter fans and excited for the Wizard School.
“I like challenging myself,” Simmons said. “I like the Rubik’s Cube and played a video game where I had to crack a code.”
Edwards said cracking a code can be a confidence-booster for someone who is shy.
“I’ve got a lot of things I’ve got to do this summer and I’ve to go to this,” Edwards said.
Barnes created an atmosphere to add to the scenarios including a countdown clock, music and updates from characters in the scenarios.
In addition to using critical thinking skills, he’s seen kids use academic skills including math and reading to work on the clues. It can help build new friendships while working as a team. Barnes is certain they’ll enjoy escape rooms.
“Any way learning can be fun,” Barnes said. “It doesn’t have to come out of a text book.
Escape Room events will be offered at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. each of the four days, and the cost is $15 per player. There is a limit of eight players per session and reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis.
For more information or to see a video of the games, go to www.ridgewoodschool.org or call 937-399-8900.
The Summer Enrichment Camps have been a Ridgewood tradition since 2010. It has been expanded to four weeks of 39 activities.
Sessions are June 6 to 10 for grades 6 to 9, and June 13 to17, June 20 to 24 and July 11 to 15 for students in kindergarten through ninth grade.
Calls start coming in March for the camp schedule, said Aliya Ranginwala, head of Ridgewood School.
“There’s always excitement for the Enrichment Camps,” she said. “We hope eventually to have an entire summer of classes in the future.”
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