BY CONNOR McMANUS
There aren’t many of them. For the most part, we know about our origins and facilities. Indeed, at a small school in a tightly-knit community, few things stay secret for long. However, occasionally it hits us; a “where-the-heck-did-that-come-from” moment. These are a few of the mysteries of Mariemont on the first ever installment of MHS Unveiled.
Crow and Owl Silhouette
Stuck to the windows in the upper library are two ominous black stickers. The owl and the crow sit day after day, year after year, silent guardians of the library, endlessly watching their post. But why? Who put them there and when?
The ominous nature of the stickers could lead one to believe that they are Halloween decorations that no one has bothered to remove. However, librarian Mrs. Colpi has another far less sinister theory. Colpi thinks that the owl and the crow were placed there to scare birds and prevent any collisions with the windows.
Mr. Crosby was able to shed some definitive light on the subject, confirming Colpi’s theory.
“Crows and owls are supposed to scare off other birds,” says Crosby. “They were probably put there in 1970. They were there before I got here.”
So, while Crosby was able to give the stickers’ purpose, their origins remain unknown.
MYSTERY: SEMI-SOLVED
Cisco Lab Mysteries
Not a computer lab, not a technology lab, but a Cisco Lab. While the purpose of this computer-filled room is obvious, the origins of its title are less so.
Mr. Miller, calculus and programming instructor at MHS, was able to explain the lab’s seemingly odd name.
“When Dr. Harris was superintendent, Mariemont hosted a Cisco Networking Academy,” says Miller. “The program was a two-year commitment by students and the content was networking technology like routers and switches, the actual physical devices for networking.”
According to Miller, the CEO of Cisco, an enormous networking corporation, even gave a speech at Mariemont as part of the program. The Cisco lab thus received its name due to its role as the hub of MHS-Cisco interaction.
MYSTERY: SOLVED
Similarly mysterious is the coffee bag that hangs in the Cisco lab. The cloth sack seems highly out of place in a room filled with computers and tech.
English teacher Mr. Becksfort gave the origins of the bag.
“Well, I love coffee,” explains Becksfort. “My first year here I taught just computers and I didn’t have a regular classroom. A friend who roasts coffee gave me the bag and I put it up in the Cisco lab and I never have taken it down. I guess it’s been up there eight years now.”
MYSTERY: SOLVED
Biology Room Mysteries
The science closet, a mystifying entity that connects Mrs. Halsalls’ room, Mr. Kuhn’s room, and Mr. Radloff’s room, has long been a source of wonder for students, particularly freshmen in one of Mrs. Halsall’s biology classes.
“Sometimes they stand at the threshold and peek around a bit,” says Halsall. The lures of such a room are obvious. Oftentimes a teacher walks in and emerges with previously unseen equipment for a lab or demonstration, quite an intriguing development for curious students. But Halsall urges caution.
“They don’t want to know what’s in there,” she says. “Believe me.”
Halsall notes that there are other mysterious aspects of her room.
“Sometimes they ask about what’s under the desk,” she admits. “But there’s nothing. Candy maybe. But I don’t want them to know that.”
MYSTERIES: SEMI-SOLVED
The Warpath is always looking for new mysteries to investigate. Email/tweet at/tell a Warpath staffer about a mystery that stumps you and we may very well investigate! And as always, keep on solving, Warpath readers!