The Park School of Buffalo
2011 Middle School Immersion
Ghostly Encounters
Welcome to Ghostly Encounters. This yearlong adventure was designed to help us determine if ghosts do or do not exist. We explored ghost stories, both fictional and non-fictional, to see what a haunt entailed. After reviewing the equipment, we are now gearing up to hunt in two of the most haunted places: The Farnsworth House and The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.
Below is a collection of observations from the students and the teachers going on the trek. We will try to blog on a daily basis (although getting information may be tricky) but we invite you all to share in our journey. Whether we catch something important or not, we will all have a story to tell. Sit back and enjoy our adventure!First blog:
Why ghost hunting?
My first teaching job was at Villa Maria Academy. I had a corner room, with windows covering two walls. On a warm spring day, I had all of my windows open. Throughout the morning, I watched the sun give way to dark skies, as severe thunderclouds came rolling in. Although rain started coming down, I had the windows open due to warmth. All the windows open into the room, so wind could not blow them closed. At the end of the last class before lunch, I went into the hallway to talk with the other math teacher. While talking, I noticed that rain was blasting on her windows. Wanting to close the windows, I returned to my room to see that all of my windows were closed and locked. No one was in the room, so I cannot explain how the windows closed. There is a story of a nun who haunts the school. She was the first principle and apparently very protective of her school. So I believe that she kept my room from getting too wet.
Ever since then, I want to believe in ghosts. When TAPS came out on Travel Channel, I was glued to the television. What a neat concept! I learned about K2 meters and EMV recordings. Originally, I was creating an immersion for the Upper School students to the Southwestern states. However, during an immersion meeting, we discovered that there was a need for an immersion for Middle School. I asked my travel agent (who is my sister) if she could come up something. Well, she just got back from a travel show where she met the people at Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. She ran the idea by me and this immersion was created.
Throughout the year, I shared my experiences with others. A senior at that time, Greg Gibson, wanted to explore ghost hunting as well, so we went to Pigman’s Road in Angola to see what we could catch. Unfortunately, the police asked us to leave, but before we did, I caught two orbs with my camera. Take a look for yourself.As you can imagine, I am very excited to have the opportunity to go on this hunt. We are prepared, we are well equipped, we have don our research, now all that is left is to pack and be on our way! Remember to check out our blog daily to share the experience.
Michael Deitzer, trip leader
