Papers are scattered everywhere. Chairs are turned over, and the office is in disarray. Calamity has struck Algonquin: a mole is on the loose. As you walk between classes, be on alert for a five-fingered feral animal that may be scampering anywhere around the halls.

Nearing the end of the school day on January 14, school psychologist Deb Guterman and guidance counselors Lisa Connery and David Breglio reported seeing a mole in Guterman’s office during a meeting, causing the three adults to run frantically out of the room and call for support. However, even with the help of custodian Tina Millar and faculties manager Mike Gorman, the mole was never successfully caught.

“It was just so quick, Tina and Mike managed to capture it a few times, but each time it escaped, eventually squeezing its way under the door and out of the office!” said Guterman, recreating the chaos that ensued on the fateful afternoon.

“We were sitting in the office nearing the end of the school day, having a serious meeting. I’m leaning against the bookshelf when suddenly a mole pops up from between the shelf and the desk, and I just stand up and run right out of the room,” said Connery.

“We have no idea where it came from. Maybe there’s a hole of some sort that it came through, or it could have crawled in through a propped open door,” said Connery.

The whole guidance department is turbulent with excitement, with everybody offering their own word about what happened. Counselor Rebecca Haberman gestured that the mole was at least three feet across in size.

“If you ask Mrs. Haberman, it’s the size of a desk. But if you ask me, it was really about six or seven inches long,” said Connery.

As of now, the mole could be anywhere. In the meantime, students are beginning to discuss what to name the nomadic critter. With any luck, little Guacamole (or Fuzzles or Mo or Wilber) has made its way to the outdoors, but no one can know for sure.