Mr. Wayne Kantz isn’t just an AP United States History (APUSH) teacher—he is also the mastermind behind his students’ school-wide hunt for the Declaration of Independence, inspired by the movie “National Treasure.” The hunt consists of clues that correspond to teachers and classrooms around the high school, which Kantz releases to his students periodically. Each clue consists of a folded piece of paper with a “History Buff” stamp, with a few facts, a poem, or a picture that gives a brief background on the topic with a connection to the location of the next clue. 

Students in Kantz’s APUSH classes have 48 hours to find each clue after it is released. After determining which teacher the clue is linked to, the students must say the phrase, “I am going to steal it; I am going to steal the Declaration of Independence” in return for the next paper. 

“The hunt is fun because it’s a competition with your classmates,” said APUSH student Allison Mulholland. She also explained how the phrase that each student is required to say in order to get the next clue “makes it even funnier, especially when you say it to the wrong teacher.” 

In his second year organizing this activity, Kantz explained that the purpose of it is to engage his students in the current lessons, “which is not only the best academic, but often the best management strategy,” he said. 

After a student manages to collect all of the clues that will lead to the final hiding place of the fake document, they will win a grand prize of candy and a permissible amount of extra credit toward their second marking period grade. Mr. Kantz released the final clues that will lead to the Declaration’s location on Wednesday, Nov. 15 through a Schoology message that stated that the first group to bring the document to him will earn “eternal glory.”