Back in December, UHSSE hosted the Amazing Race before winter break. Mrs. Kate Grayeb was the coordinator for all the fun activities throughout the day. The Amazing Race was when the students were able to race around the school completing activities that various teachers set up. All the students found it really fun, and it was a good way to end 2024. When talking to Mrs Grayeb she said, “I think it went well. Our attendance was high; students were excited about it, and it was extremely competitive. We’ve had some of the fastest completion times we’ve ever had.” Many teachers tried out some super fun and engaging activities, including Mr. Flaherty with his candy cane fishing, Miss Airo with her stacking dice with chopsticks, and Ms. Silenok with the TikTok dance challenge.

When we asked for Mrs Grayeb’s opinion on the challenges, she said, “The challenges were definitely fun and engaging, and it’s a goal for next year to make them a little longer.” Some of the challenges definitely seemed a little short, especially with the teachers who keep the same challenges. When we asked Mrs. Grayeb if she felt that anything went wrong, she said “Unfortunately we had to pivot because of a miscommunication about the pies. Pivoting to dumping water on the teachers made it worse for the teachers but more fun for the students to watch.” In total there were 12 teachers and 1 administrator who had water dumped on them. There could be some things that could change for Amazing Race 2025. Some of the ideas that Mrs. Grayeb had were that pies are definitely coming back, there could be challenges at the checkpoints, a cumulative theme across all the challenges, or even having the teacher team return and try to beat the students. We will have to see what is to come, and we can’t wait until the next Amazing Race!