Photo by: Marie-France Coallier, The Gazette

Almost every school has it’s Urban legends and ghost stories. I’ve recently been reading about more and more schools doing a bit more investigating and research to see if they can prove that their school is in fact, haunted. I remember while attending my elementary school, rumors went around that the boys bathroom near the cafeteria was haunted by a student which had been locked in and forgotten over night. Rumors went around the school that he died that night in the bathroom. So called practical joke that went wrong. During school alot of kids would turn off the lights and run out while other boys were still inside. I’m sure very frightened it seemed that someone was in there with you while you were alone. We all played some prank like this or another while attending schools.

I came across a story of some students at Macdonald High School which around 20 students participated in a “Ghost hunt”. It seems that they do believe that their school is in fact haunted and actually wrote a book on their experience and history.

There’s an urban legend about a ghost prowling the corridors of Macdonald High School, and a recent “ghost hunt” at the school convinced a group of students that there might be some truth to it.

Yes, the Ste. Anne de Bellevue school may really be haunted.

And even if it’s not, the students who participated in the ghost hunt seem to agree that it’s way more fun attending a haunted school than one that isn’t.

So they’ve written a book about the history of the school, the urban legends of the school and their best guess as to who the ghost of Macdonald High really is.

“It’s been a really amazing experience,” said Karen Jones, a Grade 7 and 8 English teacher at the school who proposed to her Grade 8 class last year that they delve into the school’s history a bit.

“It’s been a great learning experience and their self-esteem has been boosted by becoming published authors.”

Twenty-two students worked on the book, which was launched last month. Jones said it is the first time in the school’s history that a book written by students will be available in the library.

The book looks as the school’s more than 100 years of history and talks about the tunnels that once led from the school to Macdonald College. Although they are now closed off, Jones said they were once patrolled by the police who believed that FLQ terrorists may have been hiding there.

The students considered three possibilities for the school’s ghost: a victim of a suicide that dates back to the 1940s, a connection to a former burial site or a custodian at the school who passed away a number of years ago.

“The feeling is that the ghost is mischievous but not malevolent,” said Jones.

She said it is often the school custodians who hear the weird noises or see lights flashing, allegedly on account of the ghost. One custodian quit after just one night because he was so creeped out.

So last April, the students spent one night in the school after dark. Each group of students had an experience that seemed eerie – one group heard weird breathing and snoring, another group thought they saw someone sitting on a chair.

“By the end of the night, everyone was sufficiently freaked out,” said Jones.

Grade 9 student Matthew Orlando, who participated in the ghost hunt, said the students kept seeing the beam of a flashlight even though no one had a flashlight with them.

“I never believed in the ghost before, but I kind of believe now,” Orlando said.

He also believes in his own abilities.

“I never expected to have a published book,” he said. “It’s pretty cool.”