A Whitewater  scavenger hunt opened up this week to help students learn about the community. Kellie Carper, Whitewater’s Chamber Director created 19 questions on an app called ‘Goose Chase’ and sent players around town to familiar town locations such as The Birge Fountain, the city market, as well as the Ice Age Trail. 

Carper wanted students to learn more about the area. 

“I want them to be able to get off campus, find local landmarks, discover the local train station and be able to learn where the best pizza places in town are,” Carper said. 

The scavenger hunt started August 23 at noon with 14 general questions and five bonus questions. The questions may have started out easy, but some were able to throw students completely off guard. 

One of the trickier bonus questions was ‘Really up for some adventure? Find the place just outside of town where you can do some hang gliding.’

‘Super’ Senior Dan Brever and many others were fooled by this question. 

“I thought we were going to East Troy…,” said Brever. 

When Brever finally discovered the location of the bonus question, he was shocked. Especially since he had lived on campus for about five years and never knew there was a place in Whitewater to go hang gliding. It helped Brever to realize that there’s so much more to Whitewater than what’s expected.

“It’s important for students to make Whitewater their home and to have them learn more about the city and its surroundings,” he said. 

When looking back on this scavenger hunt, Brever’s favorite location ended up being the water tower by Starin Park since that’s where he broke a tie in the competition. 

With the app Goose Chase, students were able to send in their answers, snap pictures and attach their geolocation to the questions. Carper made sure students were staying safe while having fun by keeping at least six feet apart – yet still able to have the ‘competition feel.’ The scavenger hunt ran from Aug, 23 – Sept. 6, but there is no stopping anyone from being able to explore downtown Whitewater and the surrounding communities. 

Tori Kapitan, Information Coordinator of the James R. Connor University Center believes it’s important for students to be able to make that connection to Whitewater. 

“In the end, I was hoping for students to be able to explore Whitewater,” said Kapitan. “We are very happy from the results of this, because students were getting out there, showing off to their friends and still being able to remain safe with masks and social distancing.”

Gallery • 2 Photos

Dan Brever snaps a selfie of himself and Lizzy Farrey Friday, Aug. 7 while participating in the Discover Whitewater Scavenger Hunt.