Paranormal VAPActivity - By: Nicholas Robinson

"Our theatre has been said to have ghosts in it."

     Multiple students and teachers have said to have seen or heard some sort of paranormal event around the school, the most sights being the theatre. Before the school was what it is today, it was a burial ground. Teachers and students believe that there is something lurking in the lower levels of the theatre so I went and did some investigation.

            But first, I decided to look into the history of the land where VAPA now sits. The school is located on what used to be known as Fort Moore. The fort was established by US forces during the Mexican American War, when the Americans occupied California, then claimed by Mexico. The first American flag to fly over California was raised near where our swimming pool is now on July 4th, 1869. The fort was named after Captain Benjamin D. Moore, who was killed in action earlier in the war. He died after being punctured in the heart by a Mexican lance in the Battle of San Pasqual in San Diego County, on December 6, 1846. 

            It turned out there was never much fighting on the Ft. Moore hill, but according to the LA Times, the first deaths on the hill were four soldiers who were killed when a powder magazine exploded. They were the first people known to be buried on the hill.  The first officially recorded civilian burial was of Andrew Sublette, on Dec. 19, 1853. He was hunting in Malibu Canyon when he shot a grizzly, but the bear managed to kill Sublette before it died. After he was buried on the hill, his dog refused to leave his grave, and died there three days later.  The hill was the city’s first non-Catholic cemetery, and many bodies were buried secretly in the middle of the night.

          By 1857 what was then called “Cemetery Hill” was the site of public hangings.  The most famous hanging was held on Valentine’s Day of that year, when two men were hanged for murder. Three thousand people crowded the hill to watch. The hill became famous as the final resting place of men who were on the losing end of a wild-west shoot-out. According to the Southern California Genealogical Society, six deputy sheriffs were killed on the hill in a shoot out with cattle thieves. They were all buried on Cemetery Hill.

            Since the theater is where the sightings were the most reported, that is where I headed. I took a camera and explored the lower levels. I went down there with out a doubt there was nothing there. Not to my surprise, I was right. I was down there for about 20 minutes and left disappointed. You can see the video on our website. (Coming soon!!)

            I asked students that thought they heard something He said that it was a weird noise ringing throughout the hall. There is a very simple explanation for that, there is a lot of work on the floor above and it could easily have been someone sweeping. I had the same experience. Now that you know the facts, what do you think about this?