For the first time, UW-La Crosse will be having a Puzzle Palooza. The event started out as a final assignment for the Communication Studies course Communications in Teams to “do good,” and Taylor Mueller, Sean Eaton, Brett Stermer, Taylor Leibfried and Anne Lefevre wanted to do something that would help the charity Autism Speaks.
A few members of this group had connections with Autism Speaks, which is how they decided that they wanted to work with that charity. A puzzle piece is the symbol for autism as well as the symbol of Autism Speaks, which is an autism advocacy organization that seeks to raise awareness and advocate for the rights for those with autism. With the puzzle piece in mind, they came up with the idea of having a scavenger hunt.
Junior Mueller stated, “Puzzle Palooza is a scavenger hunt where the teams will be locating puzzle pieces to bring back to the home location to put together.”
The first piece will begin the hunt with a clue, and each puzzle piece contains either a fact or a question about autism. Each puzzle has 10 pieces and will end up being approximately 11 inches by 14 inches.
Mueller said, “Once the team deciphers the clue and locates the next puzzle piece, a volunteer will be waiting and they will have to answer a question about autism to receive their next piece. Prizes will be awarded to the first team to complete their puzzle, as well as prizes for ‘Most Photogenic,’ where teams have an opportunity to win prizes by taking pictures along the way.”
Prizes and scavenger hunts are fun, but those aren’t the only things that UW-L students are looking forward to.
When senior Jamie Mathison was asked about the event, she stated, “I am most excited for hopefully raising not only awareness, but donations, for Autism Speaks.”
Mathison also said, “I decided to go because it is supporting a wonderful cause. I believe campus needs to hold more events regarding autism awareness because there are so many people that are not educated.”
Mike Murphy, a friend of Mueller’s, shared a similar view to Mathison, and stated, “I really like scavenger hunts, and it is for a great cause. I am currently trying to convince my roommates to go and get a group from the REC staff.”
UW-L has participated in past events that raised awareness for this cause with the Light it Up Blue Day on the annual World Autism Awareness Day, which is April 2, and the Campus Autism Education & Awareness promotes autism awareness all the time.
Registration for the Puzzle Palooza ends on Tuesday, Dec. 2, and it will not cost anything to register, although donations are appreciated. The teams are of 5 people, and there is no limit to how many teams can participate.