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Thread: School caches

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
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    Central, Maine
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    604

    Default School caches

    This is a reference to a cache we did in Colorado when school was NOT in session. See what can happen when it is. We are even quoted! http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009...ed/?printer=1/
    Wandering with a purpose!

  2. #2
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    Jun 2004
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    Sheesh! I even note that "Parmachenee" was mentioned in the article! LOL!

    We have also done caches that made us "uncomfortable" because of the location. I can think of one in the Pittsfield area that was in a bush in front of all the windows of an old folks home. LOL! Yes, perhaps the residents may enjoy watching the cachers searching, but it's uncomfortable knowing that people are watching...

  3. #3
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    Jul 2005
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    Unity, Maine
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by WhereRWe? View Post
    Sheesh! I even note that "Parmachenee" was mentioned in the article! LOL!

    We have also done caches that made us "uncomfortable" because of the location. I can think of one in the Pittsfield area that was in a bush in front of all the windows of an old folks home. LOL! Yes, perhaps the residents may enjoy watching the cachers searching, but it's uncomfortable knowing that people are watching...
    I remember that one . . . that was when I was still learning how to use a GPSr and thought I had to match the coords on the GPSr to the posted coords instead of using the compass . . . and as a result I would take two steps to my right and then three steps to the front, another two steps to the right, five steps to my front, four steps to the left, etc. . . . all I can think is that I either looked like some drunken sod attempting to do the polka.
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  4. #4
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    Oct 2005
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    Caribou, ME
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    I've thought about hiding one at our local high school, but decided it would not be a good idea. Especially if the school sees someone suspicious and calls the PD and I have to respond to investigate my own cache.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Oakland, Maine
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    532

    Default You laugh, but..

    Quote Originally Posted by Saint367 View Post
    I've thought about hiding one at our local high school, but decided it would not be a good idea. Especially if the school sees someone suspicious and calls the PD and I have to respond to investigate my own cache.

    I'm a school resource officer and we have a very nice series of trails in behind the high school that would be nice for a few caches. I've debated it for some time and so far I haven't put them out. I can see how quickly this type of situation could happen, schools have become increasingly paranoid over the last decade to strangers and activity on the grounds. It's a shame on several different levels and I know of at least three teachers in my building that would love to use travelbugs and caches as part of their lesson plan. Plus, these trails are a well known hiding spot for kids to skip, smoke ect and I try to get out there a few times a day, but we have a good sized campus and I cannot be everywhere at once. I don't think that it would add to the caching experience to find a couple of kids smoking pot while looking for a cache. The other part of me says "these are public trails that were created specifically for people to enjoy" and that was the intent. They are even advertised in the Kennebec/Messalonskee trails handout and website. I don't know.

    Everyday I walk along the thin line between common sense and modern perception. I personally do not see any good reason to evacuate 900+ kids when we find a "bomb threat" written on a bathroom wall. Since 1973 there have been over 50,000+ reported bomb threats in U.S. schools (www.ojjcp.gov/crisisplanning) so far the number of actual bombs found: zero. The other side of the arguement was proven this year in Stockton Springs and at my middle school, where people came into the buildings with guns. Bad things can happen in Maine schools and happen quickly. I know it's kind of sad, but I do think that caches should be placed away from schools.

    Now that being said, I just completed a required report from the U.S. Department of Education about school safety and facilities. This is a basic form that is made for all schools. Nearly every section had a secondary sheet for "High Risk Areas" requiring info on the type of bulletproofing the school has. I cannot imagine working in an area where every window in the local school is made of bulletproof glass. I guess things in Maine are not as bad as we sometimes think.
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  6. #6
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    May 2008
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    Huntersville, NC
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    Default

    I have seen caches placed tastefully on school property but they did get permission from the school. One even said to visit after hours or if you do go when school is in session to "sign in" with the office. I actually found it on a Sunday so I was ok.
    "Keep on reaching for the stars. You may find that someday you can pull yourself out of the gutter."

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Team V3 View Post
    I have seen caches placed tastefully on school property but they did get permission from the school. One even said to visit after hours or if you do go when school is in session to "sign in" with the office. I actually found it on a Sunday so I was ok.
    I think you've hit the nail on the head with this one . . . folks should use commonsense and not search for a cache when school is in session when possible . . . and folks hiding the cache should make sure they've got the blessing from the school principal/administrator and be sure that the cache is hidden in an appropriate location (i.e. away from the school buildings to reduce the chance of someone thinking is being nefarious and to also reduce the chances of some student muggling the cache on purpose or accident.)

    In my opinion the wrong type of hide here would be to hide a cache without permission, hide it too close to a building or in close proximity to students and on the searcher's side to enter school grounds when school is in session instead of waiting for the weekend, after hours, etc.
    "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

    "Death is only one of many ways to die."

  8. #8
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    Sep 2005
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    Bangor, ME
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by fins2right View Post
    I'm a school resource officer and we have a very nice series of trails in behind the high school that would be nice for a few caches. I've debated it for some time and so far I haven't put them out. I can see how quickly this type of situation could happen, schools have become increasingly paranoid over the last decade to strangers and activity on the grounds. It's a shame on several different levels and I know of at least three teachers in my building that would love to use travelbugs and caches as part of their lesson plan. Plus, these trails are a well known hiding spot for kids to skip, smoke ect and I try to get out there a few times a day, but we have a good sized campus and I cannot be everywhere at once. I don't think that it would add to the caching experience to find a couple of kids smoking pot while looking for a cache. The other part of me says "these are public trails that were created specifically for people to enjoy" and that was the intent. They are even advertised in the Kennebec/Messalonskee trails handout and website. I don't know.

    Everyday I walk along the thin line between common sense and modern perception. I personally do not see any good reason to evacuate 900+ kids when we find a "bomb threat" written on a bathroom wall. Since 1973 there have been over 50,000+ reported bomb threats in U.S. schools (www.ojjcp.gov/crisisplanning) so far the number of actual bombs found: zero. The other side of the arguement was proven this year in Stockton Springs and at my middle school, where people came into the buildings with guns. Bad things can happen in Maine schools and happen quickly. I know it's kind of sad, but I do think that caches should be placed away from schools.

    Now that being said, I just completed a required report from the U.S. Department of Education about school safety and facilities. This is a basic form that is made for all schools. Nearly every section had a secondary sheet for "High Risk Areas" requiring info on the type of bulletproofing the school has. I cannot imagine working in an area where every window in the local school is made of bulletproof glass. I guess things in Maine are not as bad as we sometimes think.
    I almost placed a cache there a few years back when I lived in waterville, but the common sense side of me (yes there is one...) convinced me otherwise. I also had a cache on the trails behind the school in Winslow that I had disabled due to such paranoias, I think there was something going on in the media about the safety of schools that got those gears turning. So I had archived it before it caused any problems. Usually if I come across a cache near a school I just go past, there too many things that could go wrong if the right person sees you wandering around looking suspicious (not that geocachers look suspicious or anything...)
    Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

  9. #9
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    Jun 2004
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    Solon, Maine
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    Default

    And police DO stop and ask when they see someone "snooping around". We've been stopped at least 5 times that I can remember - twice by shopping mall security types. On one occasion, a local cop pulled over, rolled down the passenger side window, and asked, "Did you find it?". LOL!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2008
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    Huntersville, NC
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    Default

    My attitude is that it just goes to show they are doing their job. If a police asks me what I am doing I would tell them about geocaching (if they are already not aware of it). While I think stealth is good, there comes a point when too much stealth becomes not stealthy at all. Also, I am a firm believer that there is nothing wrong with what we are doing so we should not feel paranoid, just respectful. I think each one of us as cachers should be doing it tastefully and remember that we can all be "goodwill ambassadors" of the game. That is just as important (if not more so) than stealth.
    "Keep on reaching for the stars. You may find that someday you can pull yourself out of the gutter."

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