Another “Only In Florida” story, courtesy of Local 6 News:
A Pasco County substitute teacher named Jim Piculas has lost his job after being accused of wizardry. Piculas recently did a 30 second magic trick in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School where a toothpick disappears and then reappears. He then got a call from the supervisor of teachers, saying he’d been accused of wizardry.
Rushe Middle School is located in Land O Lakes, which lies north of Tampa. I suppose they have Lakes there, where, presumably, witches are drowned. Because that’s the only way to kill a witch (or wizard). Folks around Pasco county don’t take to kindly to pagan black magic and supernatural goings on. Hell, I heard Jim Piculas even made a penny come out a poor boy’s ear. Sorcery!
Rumor has it Snape was not impressed.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:31 am
http://web.archive.org/web/20070809043725/www.pasco.k12.fl.us/school_bd/pages/sch_bd.html
School Board Chairman
Marge Whaley
20433 Homossasa Ct.
Land O’ Lakes, Florida 34639
813-794-2140
http://web.archive.org/web/20070819182614/www.pasco.k12.fl.us/departments/pages/department.html
Superintendent
Heather Fiorentino
813-794-2651
http://web.archive.org/web/20070825081610/http://csrms.pasco.k12.fl.us/
http://www.ourtownfla.com/G_High_School_Activities/All_Pasco_Schools/Pasco_Schools.htm#_____MIDDLE_SCHOOLS____
Principal Dave Estabrook
Charles S. Rushe Middle School
18654 Mentmore Blvd
Land O’ Lakes, FL 34638
813-346-1200
Fax: 813-346-1291
destabro@pasco.k12.fl.us
June 19th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Actually, I heard that he wasn’t fired for wizardry, but some other (possibly trumped-up) reason. However, it was genuinely terrifying to see that, when interviewed, ADULT residents of Pasco County a) actually took the idea of a real-life wizard seriously and b) called for his ousting on the grounds that he was diabolically “manipulating” their children for extra-Christian purposes. Keep in mind these are the people who pay taxes on our schools and have with some success managed to impair sex education programs. If they manage to do the same thing with this dogmatic idiocy about witchcraft, than may God-I mean, Dumbledore- help us all.