The Hunt is on at Woodbury Middle School

While it's not on the scale of the St. Paul Winter Carnival's Medallion Hunt, Woodbury Middle School students have been poking around for their own prize.

For the past six years has held its own winter medallion hunt, complete with rhyming clues.

Woodbury Patch asked language arts teacher Erin Kerttula (the student newspaper adviser) about the medallion hunt on Thursday, when the first clue was released.  

Woodbury Patch: How did the whole thing start?

Erin Kerttula: This is the sixth year we've done a medallion hunt. The students wanted to do one, and the newspaper staff got on board. We do it instead of a December issue of the newspaper.

Patch: Where is the medallion hidden?

Kerttula: It's on school grounds—somewhere in the common areas. We don't want to hide it in a specific classroom because that would give certain students an advantage. It usually takes three or four days for students to find it.

Patch: How are the clues written?

Kerttula: We've been meeting for the past few Thursday mornings, brainstorming ideas. The clues are in a kind of rhyming-riddle format. We have them on the announcements and they're posted in the foyer.

Patch: How hard is it to find?

Kerttula: It's been found every year. One year we had to come up with extra clues because a student found it accidentally. We had it in an empty locker, and he was talking with some friends and leaned up against it and found it. So we hid it again and wrote new clues. That was rough. He was excited, but we weren't.

It looks like a silver hockey puck. There are two decoys hidden around school, and they have clues attached to them.

Patch: Is there a prize involved?

Kerttula: We account for up to five kids finding it. They usually search in groups. You can hear them in the hallways talking about it. They get a "front of the lunch line" pass and can bring a friend. They also get a king-size candy bar.

Patch: Have you ever searched for the Winter Carnival medallion?

Kerttula: No, but I definitely follow it on the news. Our hunt is totally student-driven—they really get into it.

Patch: How does this work with the school's curriculum?

Kerttula: Each year I'm continually impressed with the students—how they create the clues and go about it. It's a chance for them to work together on something and create a project themselves. 

Clue No. 1

Alas! The WMS Winter Medallion

Has been lost again

So gather your courage

And gather your friends

One clue per day

Is all you'll get

Listen to this clue

And no longer you'll fret

To find our prize

You'll need to know two things

One is location

The other is what to sing

So go on your search

And find the great prize

For we need your help

And all of your tries

Clue No. 2

You won't do well

When you look by the books

But your search you'll quell

If you check in while you look