The virtual experience was made possible through the Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES Distance Learning department that connected the classrooms, both unaware of each other’s countries.

Mystery Skype is an activity where classes from around the globe meet through video conference connection to ask one another ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions to guess the correct location of the other classroom.

The first class to guess where the other class is located is named the winner.

Some of the questions asked were: “Are you in the Northern Hemisphere?” “Is your country landlocked?” “Are you native speakers of English?” “Does the waterfall Niagara border your country?”

Submitted Photos Brocton students in Michelle Swanson and Colin Mulcahy’s classes are pictured participating in a Mystery Skype Experience with students from Poland.

Eventually, Ms. Ewelina Smiatek’s class from 14th High School in Wroclaw, Poland guessed Swanson and Mulcahy’s classes were in the United States. After which, classes began asking and answering questions of each other.

Brocton students were surprised after sharing that the WNY area was home to the chicken wing that the other class immediately thought Buffalo wings were what you get at KFC. The class in Poland shared they had a more extended school day and often had different types of pierogis, even fruit ones, for lunch.

“We are fortunate today’s technology allows teachers and students to connect with and learn from people from almost anywhere with the click of a button,” said E2CCB Distance Learning Coordinator Bryan Olson. “When students see and talk to kids just like them during Mystery Skypes, they build cultural awareness and connections, helping to create a global community of learners, which is important in today’s society.”

After the connection ended, Swanson and Mulcahy talked with their class about how these students on the other side of the world were just like them. During the short time after the game, the Polish students had similar questions to the Brocton students about what the other students ate for lunch, what the school day was like, and what it was like where they lived. In addition, they made connections with what students knew about Polish culture and geography concerning current events in Ukraine.

“E2CCB affords our students a unique opportunity such as The Mystery Skpye Project, which allows students to virtually travel to distant lands, think critically, and actively engage with students from other cultures to examine similarities and differences. They talked and expressed themselves naturally,” said Brocton MS/HS Principal Elizabeth Antolina of the experience. “We are proud of our teachers for being willing to take on these collaborative endeavors as they continue to focus on developing cultural awareness while providing something very unique for our students with the help of E2CCB technology. Our students learned the importance of cultural diversity and expressed the desire for more peer pairing programs in the future.”

Students had the opportunity to ask each other questions about life in their respective countries.