Detective Club Investigates Mysterious Turf | Carolyn Fu
At the beginning of the school year, students and staff were mystified by the sudden appearance of turf in the section between the J and L buildings. With even the administration stunned by the turf's overnight appearance, the MC detective club launched an investigation to pinpoint who installed the turf, discovering a dark history the grassy layer hides.
It all began in the winter of the 2023 to 2024 school year when simple puddles in the area between J and L turned into more than just puddles. When the MC Detective Club lifted the turf, evidence proved that heavy rain flooded the area, creating a new pool at MC. This appearance of the sudden, new pool started an era called "The Great Pool Party".
"A huge pool with no lifeguards was the best winter gift ever," Almosta Drownned (10) said. "Kids would swim there every minute, even when skipping classes and after school at 9pm."
For the first month, MC's brand new pool was a big hit. Despite lacking a filtration system, students were unbothered by the mud walls of the pool. Hundreds of students swam between building J and L everyday to get to class, until tragedy struck.
"My friend thought it would be cool to dive in the pool, but once she dived, she never came out. Even the water fighters who searched for her never came out," Gladd Notteme (11) said.
As swimmers of the new pool slowly disappeared one by one, chaos among the students broke out. Fearing to be swallowed by the pool, students would lock tightly together to continue on with their lives at MC.
"Those paths along the J and L buildings were literally one inch wide. When I was a freshman, I would hold onto the strongest conga line of juniors to get to my chemistry class," Tuffe Bones (11) said. "We'd hold so tightly to each other that one time, a junior crushed my shoulder. Another time, the kid behind me got pushed into the pool when the student he held onto let out a huge sneeze, never to be seen again."
To avoid being swallowed by the J and L pool, students didn't use the paths next to the pool as the MC Detective club discovered the paths were only two centimeters wide rather than one inch. It wasn't until teachers started to bring floats and boats to help out their students. Together, they sailed to class, picking up students from newly established docks.
"One time, my Spanish teacher rowed all 36 students to her class in the U building. She paddled so fast in her huge boat that all the kids on their duck and unicorn floaties fell overboard into the water by her paddling waves," Tina Tiny (10) said.
Despite finding a safe, efficient way to travel over the J and L pool, one MC student waited more than a whole school year to reach out for help, determined to end an era.
"At first, I tried to throw lifejackets to students who fell overboard, but they still sank. I decided to contact 100 turf companies, but all of them put my call on hold. I didn't sleep for 4284 hours until one company finally got back to me," Aima Wake (12) said. "I forgot the administration's phone number to tell them when the turf was going to be installed, so that's why no one knew the pool would be gone."
Students who nearly fell into the J and L pool during "The Great Pool Party", are currently working to make sidewalk paths at MC 100 times wider in the case of another heavy rain season. For now, the MC Detective club says that students can enjoy touching grass and lying comfortably on the school's new turf without any worries of becoming swallowed by the J and L pool.
Early stage of the J and L pool | Photo Courtesy of Allison Tseng
