When walking into a building for learning and receiving an education, students also come to participate in public school athletics.
Previous homeschooler junior Grant Vellinger arrived to FC, and it was the first time being a full time student in a public school.
“I was homeschooled for nine years. My first year at a public school was my freshman year at Floyd,” said Vellinger. Along with Vellinger, his sister, sophomore Paige Vellinger also came to FC as a freshman for the same reason.
Grant involves himself in more than one sport.
“I played soccer and ran track my freshman year. Sophomore year I ran cross country and track and I’m doing the same thing this year,” said Grant. Paige ended up doing the same as Grant.
Before FC, Grant was able to be a part of athletics.
“I played club soccer for Javanon which is a club in Louisville. That was pretty much year round,” said Grant.
Paige also participated in soccer before FC.
“I first played soccer for Graceland Baptist Church until I was in sixth grade then I played with Southern Indiana United,” said Paige. She also ran on a home schooled cross country team.
Grant enjoys school sports over club.
“Club sports are much more serious. I don’t think club sports are as fun as school sports and mainly because I wasn’t very good friends with the guys on my club team. The guys on the cross country team are like my brothers,” said Grant.
With their athletics being a big priority, Grant’s top priority is his academics.
“My academics come before everything else at FC,” said Grant.
With all the accomplishments Paige and Grant have made at a public school, they have made their mom proud.
“I am very proud of them. I think that public athletics taught them many good life skills like a good work ethic,” said mom Erin Vellinger.
Waverly Hills Sanatarium is located on 4400 Paralee Lane in Louisville, Kentucky. At first sight, it appears to be an old abandoned building, but its walls hold a much more gruesome history.
In the 1900s, Waverly Hills had the highest Tuberculosis death rate in the country, almost 63,000. One of the most infamous features of the sanatorium was the “Body Chute,” which was built to store the bodies of deceased patients. The chute originally stretched a frightening 525 feet underground, a death tunnel where bodies would be transported on carts to the bottom of the chute, and family members could get the patient’s body or have it cremated.
Sophomore Hunter Hampton has visited Waverly Hills Sanatorium and strongly believes some of the deceased patients are still lurking the dark corridors.
Hampton not only visited Waverly Hills; he spent the night there.
“All night I swear I heard children whispering. I’d hear kids’ laughter. I took pictures throughout the night, and a lot of them had those white orbs in the pictures. If everyone would visit some of these places, they would probably change their mind,” said Hampton.
In 1910, Waverly Hills Sanatorium was built in Louisville, Kentucky as a Tuberculosis hospital and recovery center. Though Waverly was intended for good measures, there were rumors that hinted otherwise.
“I am convinced Waverly Hills is haunted,” said Paige McKinley, a woman who recently toured the building.
It was said that the reason for keeping this method of disposal so inconspicuous was for the patients’ sakes; they did not want the patients to lose hope due to the large number of hearses driving up or the piles of bodies accumulating.
When I took the tour, it was a warm summer night around dusk. It seemed as the sun dipped lower in the sky and the tour progressed, the many once laughable ghost stories became more and more realistic. We had the opportunity to venture down into the depths of the ominous body chute, which was just as bleak and morbid as it had been described. I trekked down the tunnel, water seeping from the walls and the air becoming stale and humid. The idea that thousands of corpses had been in this very spot was disturbing, and the silence was unsettling. I wanted to learn more about the patients and their life at Waverly.
The tour guides had expressed that the methods of treatment were not only obsolete, but were sometimes brutal, painful operations that often resulted in death.
One of the typical treatments at the time was shock therapy, where the patients would be strapped down, and the doctors would “shock” the sickness out of them. The actual room used for the shock therapies and other archaic and experimental operations are visited in the tour.
When further research about Waverly was conducted, negative aspects shared on the tour seemed to be somewhat sugarcoated. There were reports of patient abuse, staff suicides, and child seclusion.
The children had to sleep and play in a specific sector of the building; on the top floor, a room with windows that was adjacent to the room for the mentally handicapped. There are many reports about hearing children’s voices and laughter in this sector. Another strange encounter is that on occasion, if a ball is rolled to one end of a hallway, it will roll back to where you are.
There is a room in Waverly Hills that is known for it’s dark story and stands as a twisted legend; Room 502. It is on the top floor, a room simply used for staff maintenance and storage, but it holds a deadly past of its own.
Waverly had to be quarantined, so it was like a small town of its own, gossip and all. A nurse supposedly got pregnant out of wedlock, and soon enough the whole town knew about it. She later hanged herself in room 502. Then, even more surprisingly, a nurse who worked in room 502 committed suicide by jumping from the top of the building, right outside of the room. The reasons still remain unknown. Coincidence. . .or not?
Waverly Hills Sanatorium arguably remains one of the most questioned and distinctively haunted places to visit; however, New Albany has its fair share of paranormal activity as well.
Teachers and students share even more paranormal beliefs
By Bryce Romig
The Old Central Hotel, now known as Habana Blues, is widely known for its ghostly encounters. Many customers and guests complain of seeing a small girl running around the building, mainly the third floor. The young girl was said to have killed by a car accident right outside of the hotel. Many suicides, murders, and crimes have happened on the third floor, according to local historian Gregg Seidl.
Paranormal activity also impacts the lives of FC students.
Junior Emily Shumate shared her experience with a paranormal entity.
“My mom and I will hear a kid crying when there are no kids in my house. I’ll see things go past me when I’m home alone. Sometimes when I’m in bed, I can feel something sitting at the end of it. I consider a ghost to be a spirit who was not ready to pass on,” said Shumate.
Not everyone has always been a firm believer of spiritual existence.
“I was a skeptic for years, until I actually saw a ghost. That made me a strong believer,” said senior Gavin Sodders.
Sodders went on to tell a story that switched his views.
“My friend’s house is haunted and one day, we literally saw a ghost. I walked out of his basement I saw it turn and walk around to the other side of the wall and out the garage door. When I looked a few seconds later, it was gone. Most of my friends have either heard it or seen something in that house. We’ve seen some unexplainable things.”
Instructional aide Amy Preston has experienced paranormal encounters of her own.
“I have had a personal experience. I believe in my case they are loved ones whose spirits remain to guide me and look over me in this life. I also believe that there are other spirits which are trapped here due to the violent or untimely nature of their deaths.”
Chemistry teacher Jennifer Gohmann is another believer of paranormal activity.
“I believe that there is a great deal of energy in the universe and that this energy could be the cause of spirits or abnormal occurrences.”
Gohman also decided to share some of her eerie experiences.
“Some people would consider my experiences creepy, I just think that they are annoying. From my research I have experienced a type of dream that continues when you are almost awake. In these instances I wake up thinking that there is a person standing at the foot of my bed or in the hall outside my room. On several occasions it seems to be a man in a hooded sweatshirt, one time it appeared to be a female soldier standing outside of my son’s room.”
It is 3:30 p.m. and only a few students remain inside the school doors. They may be at sports practice, participating in a club, running their lines for theatre, or just waiting until their parents pick them up. These students most likely do not think about how safe they really are.
Around this time of season, a lot of sports including wrestling and volleyball meet at FC after school.
“I have never not felt safe being here after school,” said senior wrestler Cory Troutman.
Senior wrestler Christian Overbey agreed.
“I feel very safe after school hours. There are always plenty of coaches and staff that stay after.”
Most sports have long practices after school. Volleyball usually runs till about 6 p.m. or longer on weekdays. If there is a game, then the volleyball players are here later than normal.
“I’m normally here ’til 6-6:30 or 7 on a average night school night,” said freshman Nicole Hartman.
Many students say if or when they are here after school hours they feel safe. Students may feel that way for a number of reasons.
After school all the doors are now being locked, except for the far right entrance into the rotunda. Administration, teachers, and coaches are working to keep the students here after school hours safe.
“We are just trying to keep them safe, even with the kids that are coming and going,” said FC wrestling coach Brandon Sisson.
Sisson said that it is difficult to maintain security with kids, parents, and staff going in and out so much because it is hard to determine who should be let in the school
With having a police officer at school, it makes everyone feel a little more secure. Having an officer on duty during the day allows for a sense of security that provides for a safe environment throughout FC.
“I think being safe is very important because without security we wouldn’t be able to practice and get better.” said Overbey.
Officer Brad Scott is at FC during the school day and one of his many responsibilities is spot checks around the building.
If there were to be an emergency after school, Scott said that anyone still in the building would have to listen staff members for instruction, because there is not enough personnel left after school to organize an actual procedure plan.
Scott explained that school security is especially important at sporting events because the large number of people at rival games can get out of control.
One thing students do not have to worry about is feeling safe at school.
Pike Township $74,046
Washington Township $72,696
Lawrence Township $71,059
Warren Township $71,016
Bartholomew $70,584
Perry Township $70,272
Greater Clark $65,482
Tippecanoe $63,185
Elkhart $62,175
Monroe County $62,972
New Albany-Floyd Co $62,834
Hammond $60,231
Penn-Harris-Madison $59,750
Average $66,716 Median $65,482 New Albany-Floyd Co $62,834
Bachelor’s Degree Top Salary
Warren Township $58,943
Washington Township $57,430
Perry Township $56,218
Lawrence Township $55,719
Hammond $53,281
Penn-Harris-Madison $51,580
Greater Clark $50,692
Bartholomew $50,044
Pike Township $49,822
Elkhart $49,660
Monroe County $46,615
New Albany-Floyd Co $46,443
Tippecanoe $44,300
Average $51,596 Median $50,692 New Albany-Floyd Co $46,443
School starts at 7:40 but the day often begins before then. For some students it is an hour or so before then and for others it is only minutes. Either way, life has already started in the school in the morning.
For junior Michael Clark it starts even before 7. He is the first student in the school every day.
“I get to school every day by 6:40; the doors aren’t even open at that time.” Clark arrives early out of habit and necessity.
“I dislike riding the bus so I have my parents drive me to school on their way to work,” he said. He spends the hour before classes begin in various ways. Disliking doing homework after school, Clark often leaves homework undone so he can complete it in the morning instead. Once his homework is done the school has filled with students and he sets out to find his friends to chat.
The library teems with students rushing to finish homework who need to print something off or who just want to talk to friends. There is one group of friends who do it all. Senior Paige Settles is a part of the group and often arrives around 7:05.
“I started coming this early because my dad took me on his way to work while I was a freshman and I just got used to it,” said Settles. Her first class of the day is AP English with English teacher Karen Mayer-Sebastian, but she arrives at school just as the five-minute bell rings. Settles and her friends that share the class decided to meet in the library, right across the hall from the classroom.
“I do homework because I know I’ll be here early,” Settles said, while reviewing vocabulary.
On the other side of the library is another group of friends who chat as they slowly do homework together. Sophomore Beth Brunmeier is one of them. She comes to school around 7.
“My dad used to drop me off, now it’s just habit,” said Brunmeier. Arriving early, she has plenty of time to kill so she leaves some homework to be done in the morning.
“I’m a bit of a procrastinator,” she said.
The cafeteria is another place in the school that has people meeting up to do homework and to chat. It also offers breakfast for those who cannot or do not want to eat at home.
Junior Everson Steele said, “I eat breakfast here. I’m lazy, and it’s easier to get food here than at home.” Everson meets his friends in the cafeteria to talk and to study for their tests of the day as he eats his breakfast.
Even if the start of the school day is at 7:40, life begins before that and the school houses much of the early morning activity.
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