Nevada County's high school seniors are deep into their senior projects by now — a yearlong project that includes a seven- to 10-page research paper, the selection of a mentor in the field the student chooses to explore, and a total of 20 hours on the project.

In the past, Nevada Union's graduates-to-be have worked on cleaning the Yuba River, planned a blood drive, written and recorded a demo tape, coached youth basketball, organized a fundraising concert, and painted murals.

Perhaps the quirkiest presentations this year — or any year, for that matter — might be from Rachel Markulis and Stephanie Buck, who have teamed up with a group of ghost hunters from the Bay Area to try and chase down some spirits at the Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley.

“I said we should do something cool, that no one's ever done before,” Markulis said.

The girls admit to being fans of such paranormal reality TV shows as “Destination Truth” and “Ghost Hunters.”

“We're sci-fi dorks, but we're cool sci-fi dorks,” Buck said.

Nevada Union seniors can pick just about anything they want as a project — as long as it's not dangerous. At Bear River, the focus is on exploring a potential career.

Students are encouraged to pick a project that has to do with community service, but that isn't mandatory, said Nevada Union's senior project coordinator, Lynn McDaniel.

“We ... let the kids do something they have a passion for,” McDaniel said. “It has to be a stretch — say a basketball player coaching, not just playing.”

The proposed project does require

approval by a panel of teachers, who look for liability issues, McDaniel explained.

The projects “get better every year,” she said. “They try to one-up the (projects from) last year.”

Bay Area group researches the paranormal

To find a mentor, Markulis e-mailed a number of paranormal groups in the area, eventually connecting with California Paranormal Research.

The organization, which does not charge for its services, was founded in 2007 and uses electronic equipment to try to prove — or disprove — paranormal activity.

“Our main objectives are to assist concerned home and business owners experiencing unexplained phenomenon in their surroundings, and to accumulate paranormal evidence,” said manager Terri Renfroe. “We handle cases throughout California and we come from diverse backgrounds such as the legal field and electrical engineering.”

The paranormal researchers agreed to work with the students because they “seemed very mature, that they'd take it seriously,” Renfroe said. “They sold me on it.”

The girls met with Renfroe, then went to a ranch in Penn Valley owned by Renfroe's sister, Karen Bayer, for some hands-on training on the equipment.

“There's a lot that goes into it,” Renfroe said. “There's research involved, and after-the-fact data review, going over the audio and video. Debunking is a big part of that.”

Debunking is just what it sounds like — finding the rational explanation for a “spooky” occurrence.

“Is the door really moving by itself, or is it the airflow through the room?” explained lead investigator Chuck Thurston.

After the team does an investigation and reviews its data, the team does a “reveal” for clients.

“The reactions are always the interesting part,” said investigator Nichole Fischer.

One tool the team uses a lot is EVP, or “electronic voice phenomenon” recordings, which can pick up sounds the researchers might not have heard at the time. Of course, they explain, any little thing can sound weird on playback.

To counteract problems, investigators avoid whispering and will explain any odd noise from outside or that they have caused themselves — such as a car going by, a heater kicking on or even a creaking floorboard caused by shifting their feet.

The group conducts about 10 investigations a year, primarily residential.

“The first thing they always say is, ‘You're not going to believe this,'” Renfroe said. “Some are truly scared.”

Holbrooke well-known for its ghosts

The Bay Area team assembled at the Holbrooke Hotel on Feb. 2, checking out the main building as well as the Purcell House across the back patio.

The day before the girls were to join them, team investigators had recorded an EVP in one of the rooms, although they had not noticed anything while they were there. Thurston played the recording, during which a voice could very distinctly be heard saying “Get out.”

“Our track record lately has been pretty high,” Thurston said. “If you really think things are happening, it could be that your senses have come alive. If it's not just random occurrences, if there's a pattern, it could be something.”

The group relies heavily on its “fantastic” electronics.

“It's pretty rare we actually see something” during the investigation, Renfroe said.

Why did the seniors and the team hone in on the Holbrooke?

According to the researchers, Nevada County is a hotbed for paranormal activity. And the Holbrooke is well-known for its apparitions, including noisy revelers in the former speakeasy attached to the bar, ghost children running up and down the stairs, a cigar-smoking ghost in Room 15, and a cowboy who has been spotted leaning against the bar and in what is now a women's restroom in the basement.

“I've always thought ghosts were real, but I don't really expect anything to materialize out of thin air,” Markulis said before the investigation.

“I want to believe there's something (out there), but I need proof,” Buck said. “I need to validate that belief.”

The day of the investigation, Markulis, Fischer and Bayer headed to the Purcell House after dinner, waiting to check out the main hotel until after the bar noise died down.

Fischer set up an electromagnetic field device and a recorder, and tried to garner a response from any potential spirits by asking questions.

“This is what the TV shows don't show you, the hours and hours you spend sitting in the dark,” Fischer said with a laugh.

An electromagnetic field reader is used to contact spirits that can learn to manipulate the lights in response to questions, Renfroe explained. In theory, when an apparition is trying to appear, or is present, it will put off an electromagnetic energy field.

The spirit can come near the reader to light it up and then back away far enough to have the light go off.

“If it tends to respond to duplicate questions in the same manner, then we would consider it an intelligent spirit,” Renfroe said. “It is interacting.”

Unsettling experience

According to Buck, her team got a strong response on the EMF device in one of the rooms in the Purcell House. Later, when the investigators reviewed the recording, they heard some EVPs.

“There were a couple of times I heard a word, but I couldn't really distinguish it,” Buck said. “I heard a lot of breathing, and it was a little unsettling. I don't think it will go down as the greatest evidence of all time, but it was enough to give me a spook.”

Markulis said her team had some interesting experiences in the Black Bart room.

Initially, the team got no response when asking questions, she said.

“As soon as we decided to leave, the temperature dropped,” Markulis said. “It was a little creepy. Then the light wouldn't turn off. We flicked the switch for a very long time.”

In the bridal suite, Markulis smelled cigar smoke, which, she said, “actually moved around the room ... It was weird.”

“We all walked away definitely believing there is something there,” Renfroe said in a follow-up e-mail. “We will be putting a historical article on our website, definitely recommending this hotel — not only for the ghost factor, but for the hotel and management itself.”

While not necessarily 100 percent true believers, the Nevada Union seniors pronounced themselves “really happy” with the investigation.

“I can't wait to do more,” Markulis said with a gleam in her eye.

To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4229.