Whispers spread through the hallways from student to student about forbidden places in Mayfield, such as abandoned hallways, a room under the pool, and even secret penthouses on the roof.

Student Brandon Shadley only knows of some places from the stories of his fellow students. He said, “I’ve heard lots of stories about secret places like an abandoned room under the pool that the students used to use and an old hallway that no one knows where it is but if you get caught there you get suspended for five days.”

Art Teacher Kathleen Germano is interested in the stories floating around school by her students and wanted to see for herself. Germano said “One time a group of students came up to me asking if I knew anything about this place and I didn’t so we decided to go see if we could find it. When we got there it was locked so we could get in but it was kinda cool to know it was there.”

Principal Jeff Legan knows all the nooks and crannies in the school and even went to Mayfield when he was younger. He said, “Underneath the pool is a place where many people have not been. the penthouses here lead to a lot of different places that a lot of students wouldn’t know about and in the excel TECC side there is a hallway that is always blocked off.”

Legan said at these areas, People would need a key to get in. The only people allowed in these areas would be Legan and the custodial staff.

Custodian Tim Suster believes there are no secret places in the school, just mechanical rooms that students are not allowed in. He said, “There aren’t any the restricted areas would be the mechanical room under the pool that no one would really know about.There is also a mechanical room in the auditorium where the lights are for heating and cooling.”

Suster says the penthouses Legan mentioned are just mechanical rooms or access points to the roof. Suster said, “[In] the old art room, 216 I think, there is a mechanical room in the back of the classroom. There are 3 penthouses here, we call them A, B and C, that are just mechanical rooms as well.”

According to Sustar, who has worked at the high school for many years, the secret places that all the students want to get into are nothing but old, dirty mechanicals rooms that the custodial staff go to keep up with the school’s maintenance.

Legan said, “If I need to get top the roof I know I have to go through the pent houses, under the pool is where the custodian does all the chemicals for the pool.”

The blocked off hallway in the Excel TECC wing Legan said is simply an old dusty hallway that isn’t used anymore because of bad lighting and crowded space.

The reason most students are not allowed in any of these spaces are “safety reasons, bad lighting and small places to get to,” Legan said.

All these “secret” places students are itching to find are not worth the suspension if caught, for the reason that Suster said they are just the mechanical rooms.