What is your experience with school groups?

[gotta run]

Geocaching with school groups seems to be growing in popularity, which isn’t a bad thing.

However, my experience is that soon after a school group finds a cache, the cache disappears. It’s just impossible for a box of toys to stay in place once 120 kids know where it is.

Others’ experience???

On the Left Side of the Road...

[Mister Greenthumb]

No direct experience, but merton Elementary School is planning on doing a unit on geocaching and was going to use local caches. Most would be mine. Our daughter teaches at the school and tipped me off to it. she also explained to the instructoer that it would be better to place temporary caches. She even offered my assistance, but I never heard anything. To try and protect my hides I just changed 25 of them to Premuim Member. I’ll change them back later when they are done with their unit. I have had no problems with Scout groups. I know a lot of the local scout leaders and they are doing a good job with teaching the scouts geocaching. they do find the local permanent caches.

[bartrod]

I’ve done some geocaching activities with middle school students…always used temporary caches and removed them immediately afterward. On one occasion I did take them to permanent caches but it was a field trip out of the area and there were no problems resulting from it.

Oconto...the birthplace of western civilization:)

[labrat_wr]

I did offer my local caches to a small group from the local Highschool. they only did about 3-5 caches and I suffered no ill effects. I do think they were all micros, however.

Disclaimer : Always answering to a higher power.

[Timberline Echoes]

We taught it monthly and used temps. The time we didn’t the cache was used as a urinal a few weeks later. Best for them not to use permanents in my opinion.
TE

[Grandma & Grandpa]

We put out temps when we are doing caching activities in the school neighborhood. On ‘minicourse’ days when we can go 10 or 15 miles away, we do real caches. To my knowledge, there has never been an issue with any that we’ve found. Being able to work with the website ahead of time, plan out the caching route, actually find caches, and do the logging afterward, all add greatly to the caching experience. Plus we are able to weave in a few more educational connections.

cYa, Jim

[gotta run]

I wasn’t using caches for school groups, school groups were using my caches. Which is of course ok.

But I have had two ammo boxes disappear in Pulaski after a summer school course. Today I went out to an ammo box in Green Bay, a puzzle final, not real difficult but it is a puzzle so doesn’t get found a ton. The area looked like a cluster bomb went off! So I archived it.

Nothing you can do about it, just gotta watch it.

Or place more caches a few miles in the middle of nowhere….

On the Left Side of the Road...

[Team Deejay]

From my perspective, what I hate to see are school groups HIDING caches. Now, I’m not talking about them hiding one cache either at the school or at a nearby park. I’m talking about case where they each hide and submit caches, with the maximum distance between them being about 30 feet.

[Timberline Echoes]

We taught a group of nearly 20 kids, grades 3-5 at the Northwoods Children’s Museum tonight it went great, despite the rain. We split the into two groups, Jim took half one way to find two temps while my group went the other way to find their two. No one complained about the rain! I think several will get their families into the hobby.
Mrs. TE

[Captain and Mate]

Our local high school has an Outdoor Adventures class as part of the phys. ed. curriculum. One part of that class is geocaching and they have searched for one of our caches which is hidden not too far from the school. We were a little nervous at first, but, so far, everything’s been fine.

[Mathman]

I’ve had experiences with two different school districts involving my caches. One school was taught by an experienced and WGA member and there weren’t any problems.

In another district the PE teacher just showed the students how to do it. I lost a cache two years in a row due to vandalism. Another cacher had 2 of their caches burned up! A lot depends on the care taken in instruction. I would highly recommend setting up temp caches.

[Author]

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