School ‘Spirit’: Does a Ghost Roam the Hallways?

ABC News on Campus reporter Lindsey Reiser blogs:

On Halloween, there are plenty of stories about haunted houses, even haunted hotels — but what about a haunted high school?

It’s rumored that a worker who died more than 40 years ago haunts Chandler High School near Phoenix, Ariz.

“He's always around, and mostly on this floor,” said Curtis Hoekstra, who has been a custodian at the school since 1994.

"He" is the infamous Chandler High ghost, who is said to roam the hallways of the English building.

Hoekstra says he can’t remember when he first saw the "ghost," but he said he’s had about five or six encounters ever since.

“Working by myself at night, [I’ve had] chances to experience some pretty unusual things,” Hoekstra said. “You look down the hall and you see someone standing there. Nobody’s supposed to be here.”

He describes the image as that of a Caucasian male about six feet tall, wearing a white shirt and blue or brown pants.

But Hoekstra isn’t the only one who claims to have seen something paranormal in the almost 100-year-old school.

Sally Pearson, an English teacher who has taught at the school for almost 26 years, said she was alone in the faculty restroom three or four years ago, but felt like someone — or something — was with her.

“The entire time I was there I kept feeling like there was someone else in there,” Pearson said. “I even walked around and looked in the other stall just to see if there was somebody in there standing; there was no one there. But there was certainly the sensation that there was someone else in existence in that room.”

Pearson, who teaches 9th and 12th graders, said that although her students have never reported any ghostly encounters, they’re intrigued with stories about the supposed spirit — especially around Halloween.

“The seniors, especially, know the story,” she said. “My freshmen are starting to ask questions.”

Diane Griffith, an English teacher that also works in the building, said the only time she has experienced anything unexplainable was when she was a student at the school.

“An apparition came in, kind of paused in the middle of the auditorium, looked at us, and then went out the other side,” Griffith recalled. “I wasn’t scared; I was startled, but I wasn’t scared.”

Griffith said the most popular theory is that the “ghost” is the spirit of a worker who fell to his death in 1963 when the current gymnasium was under construction.

“But this was a much older looking image to me,” she said. “So I doubt it was that man who was killed in ’63.” 

Others, like Hoekstra, believe that the "spirit" is that of a former student. Hoekstra has even combed through old school photos and found the picture of a former student resembling the figure he says he saw in the halls at night.

Years ago, Hoekstra said, the school allowed a small group of chaperoned students to stay until almost midnight with cameras and audio recorders to see if they could capture any evidence of paranormal activity. He said, mysteriously, some of the photos didn’t develop clearly and the audio renderings were muffled.

“I think he's watching over the high school kids,” Hoekstra said.  “I think there's memories here.”

Hoekstra also said that students used to host “Ghost Walks” around Halloween, in which participants toured the school during their lunch hours. During the tours students were asked to descend the school’s old, steep stairwells leading into the basement. According to assistant principal Steve Galas the school’s administrators felt the tours presented a safety issue, so they cancelled the event.

Still, Griffith said the school's "apparition" means no harm.

“I think it’s fun to have a ghost,” she said.