Trapped in a locked room with only 45 minutes and a puzzle. Could you find the key? Using only your brain and the clues around you, would you and your friends be able to solve the puzzles and escape before the clock hits zero? Well, come and find out at South’s very own break-out rooms.

From countless places around St. Louis to numerous apps, escape rooms have been a popular and fun attraction for many families. It’s not only an enjoyable activity to do with friends, it also incorporates some basic educational skills as well.

“All skills are used, really. You might need to know different math or history knowledge. Different kids can excel at it. The more varied the group, the better,” said librarian Katie Pendleton.

Last winter was the first time South has ever put on this event, and now they are continuing it this year. Last year, there was even some competition between a girl team and a boy team made up of last year’s juniors. Now seniors, Claire Sharp and Connor Travers were a part of those groups along with their fellow classmates and friends.

Sharp said her favorite part of the puzzle was when you searched for messages with a blacklight flashlight, while Travers said he liked how there were extraneous clues imbedded that didn’t lead to anything.

“It was really fun and challenging. It felt really good when we broke out and beat the boys,” said Sharp.

There was a little bit of a dispute on which team actually won, since both teams finished in seconds of each other.

“Yes we beat the girls, so we went over to their room and watched them finish,” said Travers.

When Pendleton was asked, she said that, ultimately, the boy’s team had won.

Last year, history teacher Carrie Steele took the volleyball team to the breakout room, in hopes to give them a little break from volleyball.

“They were excited. I keep it a surprise. None of them had done it at that point.

They had heard so much about it and were so excited to do it,” said Steele.

The girls didn’t end up finishing in time, but Steele said it was a good experience for them to do together as a team.

Steele said instead of doing it again, she would go an actual room around St. Louis.

“It was a good sampler. If you have the opportunity to do this one then totally do it,” said Steele.

Besides the library, other teachers have sometimes done subject-related escape rooms in their class, as a fun way to get a concept across.

Teachers like psychology teacher Amber Rice thought it would be fun to do something with her seniors last year. Rice did a puzzle called, “Decoding the War” where it is about the decoders in WW2. The students were just having a good time, what they didn’t know was that Rice used it as a psychological experiment mimicking researchers, Spearman and Sternberg’s theories of intelligence.

“They didn’t know, but I was using it to see their analytical skills. At the end of the breakout I asked them to debrief about how the different theories of intelligence played out,” said Rice. “I put it back on the students on what skills they were using and what skills were needed to breakout.”

So whether it is in the classroom or at the library, breakout rooms are all over, so why not take advantage of the free one here at South?

Sharp said she would definitely do it again.

“Its free! The ones around St. Louis you have to pay, and this one is just as fun,” said Sharp.