Here is a situation every Seabury student can relate to: “I lost my specific item! I can’t find it in my locker or my backpack. I’ll check the Lost & Found. Dang it! I did not find it there. What do I do now?”
This scenario is also relatable to the faculty. Secretary Betsy Alford shares her experience when students ask about lost items: “Number one thing people come here and ask for is their water bottles, [but] I don’t get water bottles here [in my office].”
Faculty member Lisa Leroux-Smith claims that in the Lost & Found, she has found a multitude of “Water bottles [and] lunch boxes … I’ve found LuluLemon water bottles,”
This claim about water bottles losing their owners is proven true by sixth grader Olivia Zimney, who “lost [her] water bottle and found it in an empty locker.”
Seventh grader Eva Etzel relates, who also “lost [her] Stanley and [faculty member] Mrs. [Amanda] Lovett found it.”
Next to water bottles, another frequently lost item is jewelry. Alford says, “I used to have one [student] that lost jewelry all the time, and then I had one who didn’t lose jewelry but would come and look at the jewelry and ask if she could have it.” She also mentions, “Yes, I lost a ring. No, I never found it.”
Sixth grader Isa Heidewald relates and says, “I lost a ring,” but she did find it “on the ground.”
There seem to be many people misplacing things to the point where the Lost & Found has earned itself quite a reputation: “[it] is only good for scavenging for stuff that isn’t yours,” says Heidewald.
Faculty member Michael Pulsinelli shares that “most of [his] clothes are from the Lost & Found.”
The mystery is that Leroux-Smith says, “I take it to Goodwill either four or five times a year. It’s at least one big huge garbage bag or two … that’s after it’s been laid out on the table and advertised for the week.”
Alford chalks it up to poor searching skills and says, “I don’t think they look hard enough,” and that out of all the students who lose things, only “40%” of them find their item in the Lost & Found.
Leroux-Smith says that no one genre of person is guilty and that everyone’s an “Equal Opportunity Offender.”
While it is unfortunate to see all the abandoned belongings that lay unclaimed in the endless Lost & Found bin, what really tickles my chin is all the items that have been lost and have yet to resurface:
“Yeah, I lost my hoodie [and never found it],” says seventh grader Willis Idol
“[I’ve lost] every water bottle ever,” says sophomore Xeva Oldridge.
“I lost a calculator in sixth grade. Never found it again. Ever,” says senior Eve Tuckel.
“I lost my AirPods and my spare car keys … They’re not in the Lost & Found … They just disappeared,” says sophomore Beau Peterson
“My jacket [is still missing],” says eighth grader An Duan
“I lost my glasses when we were working on Homecoming floats … They were never found, [and] I’m okay if I don’t get them back. I would just like to know what kind of adventure they’ve been on,” says Leroux-Smith.
There are plenty of students who will leave Seabury with fewer items they came with; however, there are those who have never misplaced things. Junior Ashley Perez-Gonzalez says, “This is gonna be a boring answer, but [I’ve lost] nothing. Everything just magically appears back in my locker.”
Both senior Cole Shumaker and freshman Jillian Warner agree that they have “never lost anything.”
So when Leroux-Smith advises students to “keep up with your stuff,” these are the students you should talk to.
As much as I wish this story could’ve ended with a cold-blooded, red-handed and mustache-twirling culprit, I still have no answers. It looks like what goes into and comes out of the Lost & Found will remain a mystery.
