Staff and students claim Morton East high school to be haunted based on stories and experiences.

J Sterling Morton East high school was first founded in 1894, in Cicero Illinois. It has been the home of the Mustangs ever since with more than 100 graduating Classes. Both Staff and students have reported strange paranormal activity along with horrific incidents happening in the old building. One of the stories that stand out the most is the story of a high school boy drowning in the old pool that is now supervisory room 115. The teenage boy, Richard L.Jagmin actually drowned in the pool in the new building that was opened in 1968, the year before. He was found dead in the 12ft section of the pool at 10:45 am in November of 1969. There are also stories and experiences that security has encountered while on their night shifts. They claim to hear noises coming from lockers or toilets flushing on their own. Many of the experiences occur around the auditorium; it is said to be haunted by an old theater teacher who died years ago before opening night of a production he was producing. With how old the school is it is hard not to believe these incidents or the possibility of there being something more than the living hanging around the building to be true.  22 out of 35 Morton students believe the school is haunted.
Principal Mr. Gamboa confirmed the death of a boy who drowned at Morton East.

“People say that the old pool is haunted. It was before the 1960s — before all the new additions to the building,” Principal Mr. Gamboa said.

Principal Mr.Gamboa wasn’t the only to confirm the drowning of a boy. Mary Ellen Jenicek, a retired librarian and Morton East alumni in charge of archives, also confirmed the drowning of the boy.

“A boy drowned in the new pool in the fall of 1968. No one knows why he went back in after his class. The wrong parents were notified because the two boys clothing were found in the lockers,” Mary Ellen Jenicek said.

Richard L. Jagmin was 15 years old, a sophomore in high school. The school accidentally notified the parents of another sophomore named Ronald Koran. The Koran family were sent to McNeal Hospital in Berwyn where they were told their son was dead. The heartbroken parents were unable to see or identify the body, so it wasn’t till 2:30 pm that Mrs. Jagmin identified her son at the morgue. His father Anton Jagmin was shocked upon discovering his son’s death. He described his son as being a good scuba diver and swimmer to the Chicago Tribune.

“He was a good swimmer, a scuba diver; he was 6 feet 2 inches tall and physically fit,” his father said.

The fact that he was a good swimmer and was found dead in a pool shocked his father. Mrs. Lorraine a librarian at Morton East said that she saw something odd in the annex connecting both buildings.

“When I was leaving school, I had seen someone walking across the annex that is connected to the gym Security always locks the doors. I didn’t expect anyone to be walking through there, but I had seen something that resembled a person,” Librarian Mrs. Lorraine said.

Could it be that what Mrs. Lorraine saw was the spirit of Richard Jagmin that still roams the halls today?