Submitted by Jennifer Arcuri
Steven File, an eighth grader at YSMS, held the school’s first-ever escape the room adventure. Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Steven planned and masterfully executed an evening of mystery, intrigue, and suspense that required the use of quick thinking to uncover secrets and analyze clues. To emerge victorious, students had to escape from various areas within the school, locate directions for an antidote, and mix said antidote to counteract “poison” that had been ingested.
Steven hosted the game on Thursday, December 22, 2016, from 4:45 to 7:15 PM. Game players began in two candle-lit classrooms where they had to find and decipher clues in order to acquire a lock’s combination to free themselves. After escaping the rooms, students were met with another challenge in a darkened hallway: piece together an all-black puzzle to discover a second lock’s combination and, in turn, gain entrance into the library. Within the library, each student worked independently to find the much-needed antidote for the poison. Once the antidote formula was located, players headed to the first science lab to mix the antidote and then moved to the second science lab to face the infamous Hyde, played by Steven File.
Bravo to Steven and all participants for an excitingly horrific evening that would make Robert Louis Stevenson proud!
