The Ron Clark Academy Becomes a Pirate Ship

Ahoy Matey! Recently the students at RCA experienced one of the most shocking and spectacular events ever to happen in a school. When the students left at the end of the school day, each was given an invitation to attend a masquerade ball on a cruise ship, the USS RCA. The following morning the students arrived dressed in their costumes and ready for the cruise. To their surprise, the entire school had been turned into a ship! The staff of RCA, along with many parents and the staff from Legendary Events, had worked throughout the night to completely transform the school into a real cruise ship. Every inch of the school was covered with sails, masts, nets, wooden panels and other items to make any trace of the school disappear. Over the speakers the sounds of waves crashing against the side of ship played throughout the school. The students were greeted by the cruise's hosts: Captain Adkins, Princess Lokey, and Cruise Director Mosley. The students were helping themselves to punch and hors d'oeuvres when all of a sudden - CRISIS!

Pirates swarmed the lobby, falling from the sky, flowing from the halls and storming down the stairs! The ship was taken over by evil pirates and the entire crew and all of the students were taken captive. The pirates ordered Captain Adkins to turn the boat around and to sail deep into the Bermuda Triangle. They wanted to find the most elusive treasure in the world, and since the pirates' crew was too afraid to make the journey, they were taking the crew of the USS RCA and all of the students to help make the trip possible. The evil Captain Clark and the ruthless Black Bearden ordered the students to help solve clues to find the treasure. They made Princess Lokey take students to her room to learn about latitude and longitude so that the kids could help find the treasure. They made Captain Adkins teach the students about magnetism to figure out why so many ships are lost in the Bermuda Triangle. In other "classes" the kids solved clues and learned about the history of pirates and the search for treasure throughout the Caribbean. It was a frantic and magical experience as the staff members played their parts to the hilt, and the students all worked with intensity as they tried to solve the clues to help find the treasure.

As the waves crashed against the side of the boat the tension mounted; the children knew if they didn't find the treasure by 3:30 P.M. that they would all have to walk the plank! At 3 P.M., just as the clues were unraveled, a storm hit and shook the boat! Students and staff were slung from one side to the other, and thunder and lightning could be heard throughout the ship. All of the guests and crew huddled in the lobby and clung for their lives. At the last minute, the kids were able to put all of the clues together, solve the mystery and sail out of the storm, escaping the Bermuda Triangle. It was exhausting and unlike anything I am sure any group of students have ever experienced in a school day. As one student left to go home, he turned to the staff and told us, "That was the best day of my life." Luckily for him and the rest of RCA's students, many more magical days are soon to come.