On Saturday, May 2, Anson New Tech held its Discover Anson Tour, which was deemed a great success. The tour was a competition between eight teams from the community to find hidden caches with handheld GPS devices. New Tech placed caches in proximity to historical sites around Anson County. The teams met at 9 o’clock at Anson New Tech where students from the Earth and Environmental Studies Class conducted an orientation on the use of the GPS units. The teams then locked in their satellite and the tour began. Other New Tech students were manning aide stations around the county. The tour’s course followed a circuitous route around the county and included eight hidden caches. The teams had to locate each cache, read the historical information about the corresponding site, log in, receive their next clue/coordinate, and then move on to the next.

Anson New Tech officials had expected the teams to take up to four hours to complete the race, but the competitive nature came out in the groups and all teams finished within a 30-minute window, two hours ahead of the expected time. All agreed that the tour was great fun and very educational, and they all look forward to next year.

The winning team was the Huntley Oil and Gas Team, whose members included David Poplin, Katie Poplin and Kim Ratliff. The other top four finishers were: in second place, the Stinson-Nance team; in third, the Carolina Apparel Group; and in fourth, the Team Language Nerds. "Thank you to all of the teams participating in the first annual Discover Anson Tour," said Anson New Tech principal Chris Stinson.

If you are interested in learning more about geocaching or the Discover Anson Tour, please contact Clint Davis at Anson New Technology High School 704-694-7447, or e-mail him at clint.davis@ansonnths.nthls.com.