Reality Maze

Reality Maze is an annual event for Brodhead Middle School 8th Graders. It is an opportunity to educate students about some possible negative consequences of substance misuse, and inform students of the supports that are available in our community.

This year’s event took place on Monday December 11th 2023 from 8am-12pm in the Brodhead Middle School gym. All 77 8th graders participated in the Reality Maze. There were 20 professionals who played the needed roles in the scenarios and two teachers who supervised the students.

Updating the Reality Maze

In preparation for the event, we reviewed the previous Reality Mazes scenarios and determined that in order to have a stronger impact, we needed to make major changes.

We used student-friendly language to reduce the number of scenarios from 32 to 10 while making the scenarios more accurate representations of what happens in our local community. Fewer scenarios allowed us to schedule students’ participation in the maze so it was an orderly and educational experience.

The judges met prior to the Reality Maze to agree on appropriate consequences for each scenario.

To make the process run smoothly, a folder was made for each volunteer that included a welcome and thank you letter, master spreadsheet, and a copy of each scenario that pertained to that person or group.

Reality Maze Day

On the day of the event, each 8th Grade Math class was given whole group instruction. The first five students started the maze after receiving their scenario worksheet and a pencil. Every five minutes, another set of five students went to the gym to start the maze. Two classrooms near the gym were uses as the courtrooms. Students waiting in the math classroom used the drunk goggles and other interactive tools.