Ten of Courtney Kiley’s fourmettes stood in a circle, handcuffed together. Their mission: Find the missing magician and escape in under 60 minutes.
The group quickly found the key to their handcuffs, and once they were unlocked, they split up to search for clues. They rushed to find codes, open locks and solve mysterious puzzles as they raced against time. Next, the group worked to open a chest covered in locks. When the last key clicked, they celebrated. Not only had they found the magician’s body and escaped, but in the process had set a new record for the month, completing the challenge in 34 minutes and 40 seconds.
This was one of the Kiley forum’s three escape rooms, as they split into multiple groups for the challenge. Through each puzzle, some of the students thought they were becoming closer and more comfortable with each other, one of the many hopes when planning Forum Day for the Kiley forum.
“I think Courtney was worried that we really weren’t going to be bonding in the escape room and the only time we were gonna get to bond was on the bus,” Palmoa Edmonds, a senior in the Kiley forum at CHS said.
However, Edmonds believes that the most of the group’s bonding came from their time inside of the escape room.
Many of the Kiley forum freshmen, such as Kate Hohnke, felt more connected and comfortable after getting to know their fellow fourmettes.
“It was super fun trying to figure out all [of the puzzles],” Hohnke said. “It was a really good way to bond with everyone because we had to work together.”
While the escape room might have been a highlight, it wasn’t all the Kiley forum did. They had begun their morning by meeting up at CHS for breakfast where they played Pictionary, Contact and ate bagels as a forum.
After breakfast, they headed to Blake Transit Center where they rode the city bus to Breakout Escape Rooms. The bus ride was filled with chatter and excitement for the day’s upcoming events. When they arrived, students split into three groups and solved a series of puzzles to escape. The students rode the bus downtown and many fourmettes decided to get an impromptu lunch at the new Raising Canes to end the day.
By the end of the day, the Kiley forum called the day a huge success and Kiley mentioned how some already want to go back.
“I was really nervous about all the little pieces working out but it was seamless, mostly due to [student] leadership,” Kiley said. “There was a lot of bonding happening and now people want to go back and do it again.”
