Yarmouth, Maine, May 16, 2025: North Yarmouth Academy (NYA) freshman William Kennedy (Falmouth) took his English project to the next level this semester. The assignment was to read a book of his choosing and then demonstrate his understanding of the text by doing something creative in lieu of a traditional assessment He chose The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann and then proceeded to send his teacher on a treasure hunt culminating on Mackworth Island.

Upper School English teacher, Kevin Roy, assigned this project for the first time last year. “The projects that came in were incredible,” he said. A student created an intricate maze to depict The Maze Runner by James Dashner. There was a tree for Wishtree by Katherine Applegate and a miniature bus/cabin depicting Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, to name a few. It was so successful that Roy decided to assign the project to this year’s freshmen, too, to see what they could do.

“I gave them some examples, and if they had their own ideas, they could talk with me about them,” explained Roy. “I wanted them to show some of the concepts we’ve been looking at this year like character and plot development, setting, and symbolism in their projects.” The students got inspiration from the projects Roy had displayed throughout his cluttered classroom. The bar was set high.

Kennedy got to work. He found The Wager in his dad’s library. “I’m not usually drawn to nonfiction, but this book seemed perfect for my idea,” said Kennedy. It’s about the British ship the HMS Wager and its crew on a secret mission to seize Spanish treasure during the War of Jenkins’s Ear (1739-1744). The ship struck rocks and wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia on May 14, 1741. Kennedy decided he’d create journal entries written by John Byron, one of the midshipmen. “The author used ship’s logs to write the book-all the details came from the logs-so I thought I’d emulate what the author had to go through to write the book and then have Mr. Roy decode the entries for the clues to find the treasure,” explained Kennedy.

Kennedy spoke to teachers, staff, and students whom he selected to be part of the hunt to make sure they were willing to participate (all were). He wrote the puzzles as a script and then the journal entries themselves. He weathered the paper with coffee and a hair dryer, adding details like torn edges and “blood” stains and drawing over the handwriting font to make it look more realistic. He created model boats on a 3-D printer, hollowed out a book, and bought amber colored bottles and a treasure chest. He also went to Mackworth Island to find a good location to hide the chest. “I needed to find a place where I could lead him to that wasn’t too out in the open.” The map took Roy counterclockwise around the trail to a spot behind the Leavitt Bench.

Kennedy and his friends kept up with Mr. Roy’s progress, and he did very well to decipher the clues. “There was a mishap with the boats, but he figured it out.” They watched from the window in class as Roy proudly walked across campus to Russell Hall reading a scroll. “On the last day, he was really upset because Sully [Lynn Sullivan, history teacher/dean of students] was in a meeting so he had to wait to get the final clue from her.” The next day, from study hall, they heard Roy say: “Mackworth Island! I need to go to Mackworth Island!” Kennedy thought Mr. Roy would bring his young kids to find the treasure chest and make it a fun day. “But he couldn’t wait, he left as soon as he could.”

This was Kennedy’s favorite school project because he was able to be creative. “I knew Mr. Roy would be willing to go on a weeklong treasure hunt ending on Mackworth Island,” he said. “The entertainment value of watching Mr. Roy run around the school trying to figure it all out was worth it.”
The treasure inside the chest included game money and coins, candy, and a golden hippopotamus. All the projects are in Mr. Roy’s classroom in the Curtis Building.

Watch the making of the project video.
News Center Maine Story by Chris Costa

North Yarmouth Academy is an independent, college preparatory, coeducational school for toddlers to postgraduate students with an enrollment of over 400. Since 1814, NYA has fostered integrity, character, and intellect in its students. For more information about NYA, please visit our website at NYA.org.