Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The Gallia Selfie Scavenger Hunt

 
 
 
Since my first week here at the Bureau I have been working on an event of my own, The Gallia Selfie Scavenger Hunt! What began as a random idea has become a real event! The goal of this project is help students become knowledgeable of their hometown! When I began the research for this project I surveyed students from South Gallia High School so I could get an idea of how hard I needed to make the hunt. This proved to be very enlightening; students didn't know much about the history of our city or where anything was. I also stopped over to the Gallia County Historical and Genealogical Society, where Mary Lee Marchi the Director gave me lots of information!
 
With this knowledge I began compiling the hunts; one for students in Elementary and one for Middle and High School Students. The Elementary Hunt or as I like to call them, Tiny Travelers, will follow a map to find certain locations within the park. I have changed this map many, many times, I printed them last week so that I couldn't change it again. I had a very good friend who is 13 give the Tiny Travelers Hunt a run through so I could catch any mistakes and make it as perfect as I could. I also have been fortunate to meet Lynne Allen, a local school teacher, who saw the poster on Facebook and has recruited some help from Gallia Academy High School Student Council, for which I am very thankful!
 
The Middle/High School Hunt (Explorer Level) is a little more complicated. These students will decipher clues to find the locations. The issue with this is that I am trying to get the community involved by letting local businesses be locations. For this I sent letters and heard very little back, so I stopped by the businesses and after speaking in person they were more than happy to help! Still waiting to hear back from a few, but I'm not too worried!
 
 For every student that completes the Hunt will be entered to win some fabulous prizes for which I will keep a secret for now! Group participation is encouraged!!!!!
 
Overall I have received positive feedback regarding this event and I hope many can come! Just a few notes, this event will happen rain or shine! And if you are a little younger or a bit older, you are still welcome to attend!
 
 Check out our media release below for more information!
 
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

“The Gallia Selfie Scavenger Hunt”

 
How well do you know your community? Are you looking for a fun and creative way to learn more about your community and a way to share that experience with your family, classmates and friends?  If so, you’ll want to mark your calendar for July 25th!  The Gallia County Convention and Visitors Bureau will be hosting the first Gallia Selfie Scavenger Hunt, in the Gallipolis City Park.  There are two scavenger hunts scheduled that day for different age groups.  The first hunt, at 1:00 pm, will be geared towards Elementary student while the second hunt, 3:00 pm will be for Middle to High School aged-students. 

“The purpose of this event is an effort to encourage support of local venues but also to give knowledge of the area in an entertaining approach to children,” stated Amanda Crouse, Executive Director of the Gallia County Convention and Visitors Bureau.  “Last month, Kaitlynn Dummitt, our summer intern who will soon graduate from Ohio University with a degree in Hospitality, joined our efforts at the bureau.  I asked Kaitlynn to develop ways to become more involved with students and educating them about our history and heritage and so the Gallia Selfie Scavenger Hunt began; this is her event from start to finish,” added Crouse. 

The Elementary hunt (1:00 pm) will stay within the city park and will focus around the better known historical landmarks in order to educate children and teach them to use a map.  The students working in groups of 2-4, with adults for supervision, will be given a map with clues in order to navigate the hunt at various sites and snap “selfies” of themselves.  Once the students have completed the hunt, their names will be entered into a drawing for prizes. 

The Middle-High School hunt (3:00 pm) will have the same rules with the same purpose, but this hunt will expand outside of the city park and throughout the downtown area but within 2 blocks of the park.  So parents need to be advised that students in this hunt will be crossing streets on their own or with other students.  If parents are not comfortable with their children crossing the streets, they will need to provide adult supervision. 

“This project is about home. By encouraging kids to be knowledgeable of their hometown it helps create that bond between the youth and our community. And hopefully they will have fun while doing so!” stated Kaitlynn Dummitt, GCCVB summer intern.

Anyone with questions about the race may contact the Gallia County Convention and Visitors Bureau at 740.446.6882 or stop by their office located across from the Gallipolis Post Office Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Ten Fun Staycation Ideas

Hi there! Assistant Director Kaitlynn here, I just got back to the office after a wonderful Staycation here in Gallia County! The plan f...