Jacobs High School club's mantra? The truth is out there
Since the glory days of the '90s TV hit "The X-Files," David Duchovny has moved onto the bawdy Showtime smash "Californication," while Gillian Anderson is nowhere to be seen.
But despite the absence of agents Mulder and Scully, teenagers are still fascinated by the paranormal.
Drawing inspiration from more current sources like "Ghost Hunters" on the Syfy Channel and "Paranormal Activity," a horror flick in theaters now, some local teens are breaking out the Ouija boards and recording equipment to find evidence of things that go bump in the night.
Students at Algonquin's Jacobs High School have started a paranormal club to explore their interest in things that cannot be explained by science.
It is ironic then that the students sought help from Beth Wintersteen, who teaches biology and forensic science at Jacobs.
"I straight up told the kids, 'I'm a skeptic,'" Wintersteen said. "I've never had a ghost experience. I want to see the facts."
But Wintersteen was impressed by the initiative shown by Lara Biag, a freshman in her biology class who approached her with the idea.
Biag, now president of the club, said she went to Wintersteen because she thought her teacher's investigative skills would come in handy.
"I was trying to build up the courage to ask the teacher to sponsor it because she might think it's stupid or childish," Biag said. "I don't know if she was reluctant. She seemed pretty up for it."
Biag's interest in the paranormal started at a young age.
"When I was really little, rather than 'Barney,' I'd probably watch 'Ghosthunters,'" Biag said.
"I'm not that good at sports, so I felt this was something. Kids that aren't that athletic, they have something to do."
When junior A.J. Small heard about the club from Wintersteen, her forensics teacher, she signed up immediately.
Small, now a co-vice president, says her interest in the paranormal spiked two years ago, after the death of her uncle, who had been a pastor at Willow Creek Community Church.
One night, "I woke up, and I swear he was standing there," Small said. "But then I blinked, and he wasn't. My computer came on, it started playing his favorite song."
Biag said although she's into ghosts, she's glad to accommodate students who are fascinated by aliens and UFOs.
"Paranormal is anything else that's out there - aliens, demons, anything," Biag said.
Leaders of the paranormal club hope to start a monthly scary movie night open to all to raise money for haunted tours and ghost-hunting trips. The club plans to visit Algonquin Cemetery next month to search for three ghosts believed to haunt the grounds.
Although starting a new club is difficult, Jacobs' paranormal enthusiasts are not deterred by classmates' gibes.
"We just want to find some evidence," Biag said. "I want to get to know what's actually out there. It's ignorant to think there's nothing else out there besides myself."