Both students and teachers were in for a surprise on Monday morning when they discovered the gong from the band room in the bottom of the pool. Mr. Dzbinski, music department chair, first noticed the instrument was missing when he came into the band room at around 7:30 a.m. on Monday.

“My first thought was amazement at how someone could move the gong without anyone noticing,” he said. He immediately went to the administration hallway to see if they could locate his lost apparatus.

Ms. Byrd, P.E. teacher and swim coach, was shocked to see the large circular disc in the middle of the deep end. Her immediate thought was “What in the world did the seniors do now?” Over the years, she has witnessed the seniors throwing various objects into the pool, including the freshmen’s name tags, some of which have yet to be discovered.

On the morning announcements, a very confused Dr. Pellechia requested information about the incident from the students alongside his usual cheery message.  The freshmen let out cheers of excitement when they heard the news that swim classes would not be taking place that day.

At this time, administration and a group of teachers are working to identify the culprit, and the Gateway will keep you posted. As of lunchtime, the suspect at the top of the list appears to be the Blazaswim aliens that previously inhabited the natatorium. In past years, the aliens happily welcomed the swimmers to the pool from their vantage point on the windowsills, but this year, they are nowhere to be found. Perhaps they mixed up their UFO with the music department’s gong. In any case, the incident certainly brought some amusement to the mundane world of Zoom classes, and we can certainly understand if the aliens were trying to have a little fun.