At Stella Maris School Gading Serpong, a catholic IB school, the rise of Covid-19 led to the last 2 years of students being stuck at home with online schooling. With the pandemic finally ending, and students returning to school, the newly elected Student Council felt that it was necessary to help the student body feel again that nostalgic back-to-school excitement, the events the students have been longing.
This culminated in the creation of a 2-week-long program of an escape room, entitled “A Doctor’s Escape”. The main objective of the program was to get students excited for the new academic year. The student council had done events before, but this was, so far, the longest and largest-held event and was in turn very ambitious.
The Student Council worked tirelessly on designing the escape room, and in total, it took about 8 hours to complete with decorations, interiors, walls, and more. The escape room itself contained 4 rooms, each with 1 puzzle. To pass to the next level, you had to solve the puzzle. This may involve things such as deciphering codes to looking for a key. The puzzles at the beginning started relatively easy, but then became increasingly harder and harder with every level, ending with students having to decipher Morse code based on sound alone. On top of all that, students had to complete the game in only 20 minutes! We designed it to be difficult yet fun and engaging.
Students from all levels, and even some teachers, played the game. As we expected, it was quite a challenge and in total only two groups managed to beat it! All groups that we interviewed afterward generally had positive reviews and hoped to see something similar in the future. The program was overall a great success and brought joy to many students alike.
The escape room also was not only beneficial to the student body, but also to the members and leaders of the student council itself. They learned many things during the creation process, which taught them important skills such as leadership, entrepreneurship, critical thinking, as well as problem solving, and planning.
We hope to give you more updates on our upcoming events to give you a glimpse of how fun it is to be in Stella Maris School Gading Serpong. With its caring Student Council, and a multitude of fun activities each term, it is sure to be a top choice for many students!
–Adam Marcello / Grade 11 St. Ernest
