SAI Heritage Treasure Hunt, yet another initiative of SAI International School to involve the parents in fun filled activity that helps in strengthening the bonds was held on November 9, 2014, on a bright Sunday morning. The school corridors buzzed with enthusiasm with eager kids and determined parents in almost equal numbers. One could sense the competitive spirit brewing in the air and the euphoria was contagious.

The school associated with the Commissionerate of Police, Bhubaneshwar-Cuttack and Department of Tourism, Odisha and Indian Oil for this magnum opus. The treasure hunt was flagged off by Shri K. K. Sharma, general manager, Indian Oil Corporation, Odisha and chairman, Dr. B. K. Sahoo at 8:30 am in the morning with around 120 participating families. The flight of cars took off and all the teams were expected to go on a scavenger hunt of 10 identified heritage points where marshalls from the school were deputed to acknowledged and stamp their arrival.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad Sharma, IPS commissioner of police Bhubaneswar and Cuttack was the chief guest for the closing ceremony at 1:30pm and he was joined by Shri S. Ganesh, DGM, finance from Indian Oil Corporation to declare the winners and conclude the event.

Dr. Sharma congratulated the SAI International team for planning the event with precision and caution. He encouraged the students and complimented the parents for following the driving rules and ethics keeping in mind the safety of all. Addressing the gathering he said, “It is very important to sensitise the young children about the heritage points and I am very happy that SAI International School has taken an initiative to achieve the same.”

The families enjoyed the treasure hunt and participated with great zeal. Some of the heritage points for the Treasure Hunt were Khandagiri, Dhaulagiri, Ekamra Kanan,  Tribal museum and other points of cultural heritage of the city. it was thrilling to see the competitive spirit  demonstrated by the participating families.

At the end it was the combination of intelligence, patience and astuteness with a winning spirit. The winner of the first Treasure Hunt was Rishabh Roy Choudhary with his parents who bagged the first prize of a 32” LED TV, the second prize of a Home theatre system went to Deeptanshu Prakash  and his family while the third prize of a Tab was taken by Dhruv Agarwal and his family. Apart from this there were five consolation prizes of touch screen mobile phones.

“We are extremely fortunate to get a platform like this to bong with our children,” said the father of Rishab Roy Choudhary, the winner of SAI Heritage Treasure Hunt. He further added, “It was after a long time I spent time with my children, on a drive enjoying it and solving the clues.”

Asim Mohanty, a participant said “the treasure hunt provided an opportunity to us to learn more about the city. Even though we could not decipher all the clues we enjoyed the treasure hunt a lot and are thankful to the School.”