Night with Andersen 2024

On the 22nd and 23rd of March, an event called Night with Andersen also took place at our school. This year’s inspiration for this event was the book “Prašina” by the writer Vojtěch Matocha. Since this book tells about mysteries in a strange district of Prague, our event organizers took inspiration and prepared an evening program for children on the theme “The Mystery of the Cursed School”.

Upon arrival, our little detectives were briefed on the case of the school janitor’s death. They were then given boards with information about suspects, possible places, and tools used in the murder. The detectives were divided into 3 teams to expedite the investigation. They visited several rooms where they found sheets with ciphers, which when deciphered revealed the name of an innocent person or the name of an unrelated tool/place.

In the late evening, when our younger detectives had retired to sleep, a daunting challenge awaited our older detectives. Another clue was hidden in the school sandbox, a favorite spot of all suspects. However, when found, there were no names or letters, only dots and dashes. Our detectives had strategically divided into two groups beforehand, so the searching group could then send signals using flashlights to the other group, who found Morse code in the investigation materials and then translated the signals. This revealed 3 more innocent names.

Though our detectives were eager and would have liked to solve the mystery that night, eventually they all succumbed to exhaustion and continued the next day. After a hearty breakfast, they faced the challenging task of creating light using potatoes, metals, and wires. However, our detectives are no amateurs but absolute pros, who finished within minutes and thus reached the final clue.

Before 9 a.m., we arrested two criminals, discovered where the janitor was murdered, and what was used as the murder weapon. Our successful detectives received certificates for their participation in the investigation and their own loot for future detective missions.