Florida Teacher Accused of Wizardry - Loses Job!

Things can only get worse for rational thinking in America unless something is done. Two examples. After running the mile, a student in high school PE class told her teacher that something was terribly wrong with her, as her heart was beating fast and that had never happened to her before.
There seem to be more reports to police of "human" bones found in the desert, when the bones are animal bones. Again

Wow and Wow.

First off the teacher being fired for wizardry is the stupidest thing I have herd in quite awhile. What a pathetic way to treat a human who has dedicated his life to the betterment of children. I have been looking for someplace to move to, the desert is beginning to wear on me. I was thinking Florida would be nice, but I would probably end up castrated and burnt at the stake. Besides it wont be too long before I have children and I do not think I want them educated in that state. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

The second wow goes out to jbondo. your response is SO out of proportion to the comments made about Christianity.

"just another excuse to attack Christians"
"display such hatred toward other human beings"
"Maybe we should all be rounded up and thrown into incinerators so as not to ruin all the God haters lives"
"You could elect a Hitler and get to work"

Wow, just wow. Are you serious? Granted I am not a Christian, I in fact dislike Paulianity and much of what it teaches, but still I saw nothing in the two pages of posts to elicit the comments you have made. Sounds to me like you need to toughen up lad.

I doubted the spin on this story from the beginning:

The school district puts a somewhat different spin on the disappearing-toothpick incident.

Performing a magic trick at Rushe Middle is just one of the reasons the school district gives for dumping Piculas from the substitute-teacher list. The others are: Piculas did not follow the lesson plans, he allowed students on computers even though another teacher said not to, and he told the fifth-period student peer that she was in charge.

...

The word "wizardry" does not appear in the letter.

...

Link.

I agree it was dumb they included the magic trick as one of the offenses, but it looks like they had other issues with him.

Moreover, this is a district that apparently needs a no tolerance policy with subs...

UPDATE: Substitute teacher arrested on sex charges bonds out of jail

It has happened again! Another Bay area school teacher is behind bars, accused of having sex with a student.

This time it's 40-year-old Lisa Marinelli, a substitute teacher at Mitchell High School in New Port Richey. Investigators say she had a relationship with an underage male student.

and...

Teacher's suicide attempt prompts morality debate

The superintendent wants her fired for trying to kill herself at school, but others show sympathy.

On May 22, just three days before summer vacation, a language teacher at Pasco High School went to an office and began taking the antianxiety medications Alprazolam and Lorazepam and other pills, trying to kill herself.

Along with staff members, three or four students witnessed the after-school incident.

The place seems like a zoo to me.



[edit on 7-5-2008 by loam]

I think there is some really, really Dark magic at work here. For instance ,how did they make reason dissapear?, where did they hide common sense so cleverly?. What slight of hand quickly pulled the wool over our eyes?. So is this an admission that Wizardry exists, and how come when this teacher made a tooth pick magically appear ,out of nothing, did no one offer support for his creative design?

"there is no magic" Nakor.

[edit on 7-5-2008 by atlasastro]

Piculas did not follow the lesson plans, he allowed students on computers even though another teacher said not to, and he told the fifth-period student peer that she was in charge.

Those aren't reasons for dismissal either!

The lesson plans can be altered at will to suit the learning curve of the students.

If the students aren't allowed on the computers, THEN WHY PUT THEM IN THE CLASS!... oh right... computers aren't running faith2.0 and hence... more wizardry.
Let the students on the computers, they can be one heck of a teaching aid.

Letting kids assume authority roles is actually something that's promoted where I'm from... not sure about the rest of you, but it was actually in the curriculum to take the most mature student and give them a chance at teaching.
What this does is it allows the kids a break from the usual boredom of the day, and it teaches kids to lead and work alongside their peers in a mock official role.


On top of this, the teacher took it upon himself to entertain the kids so that they may more easily absorb the days lessons. It's always easier to learn when you're happy.



Damn... this teacher is probably the best thing to ever have happened to these kids.

From what I can surmise, the rules of the school are as follows
1. Everything is by the book, you will know X amount of data at precisely X time.
2. Use of technology is simply wrong. We place it there as a test of your willingness to abandon technology.
3. You will not learn about leadership, all students are required to learn subservience.
4. Fun is forbidden... F O R B I D D E N. You are not permitted to enjoy learning.


Man... I'm thinking about writing to the Ontario school board. To see if they can strike a deal to offer this teacher a position up here in Canada, complete with citizenship etc.

There's a reason our education system is running so well, while the US education system is practically collapsing.

You guys are missing the big picture here. I would bet he wasn't actually fired for any of those things. My guess is that he was really fired because he was teaching those kids to think outside the box. If they can actually think, they won't make good little brown-shirts.

Educators want rules and regulations, because they aren't able to actually teach anymore.

reply to post by jpm1602


you are quite welcome. in french accent " now go away, or i shall taunt you again!"

I think the knee-jerk reaction is in this forum, not in the school-district.

The story is almost entirely from Piculas' prospective, so of course he is going to say he was ignorant of any performance issues, and play up what he feels are ridiculous aspects of the case.

And he seems to be inconsistent in his story. In one story, he claims he knew nothing of the performance issues. In another story, he says he recieved a letter stating the performance issues, and that it downplayed the magic-tricks portion. And magic-tricks in the classroom are an issue, if he is letting them get in the way of teaching or performing his duties.

reply to post by SaviorComplex


For the most part, I agree with you.

At best, this situation is VERY unclear.

It's amazing all of the assumptions flying in this thread.

reply to post by SaviorComplex


If it were a performance issue or anything like that it would most likely be the reason for the termination, and they wouldn't keep it secret. If wizardry was at the top of their list, it's probably because they couldn't get him for poor performance in his tasks.

reply to post by Animal


I'm not going to argue with you but some of the comments were absolutely uncalled for especially since these people have no idea if Christians were involved in this decision or not. Furthermore, if you can't recognize when your God and Faith are being attacked then I don't know what you need to see. I don't need "toughened up" as I can take quite a lot of abuse before I speak out. I can also take jokes against Christians to a point but I wonder what you are thinking while reading some of these flagrant attacks and stereotyping? In other words, I had no problems with the post from Badge as an example. I'm not going to say anything about your Faith as I don't know you but the word is the world and I'm not going to ride the fence (not saying you would) to attain popularity.

I've been here for a little more than two years and have witnessed constant attacks (almost daily) against Christians. It gets quite tiring. Most often I just stay away from these threads because I know where they are destined to go.

Originally posted by Rasobasi420
If it were a performance issue or anything like that it would most likely be the reason for the termination, and they wouldn't keep it secret...

They didn't keep it secret. They explicitly told him. The only source for "wizardry" being the cause of termination comes from the teacher. If you ask me, he's creating a stink to cover up his own poor job performance.

So just so I am clear on this...

The toothpick DID'NT dissappear, hence the uproar?

If it was a bad trick, then yes fire his a@@.

Originally posted by mattifikation
What rubbish. Things like this are why I don't see religion having a place in schools or in the government. And before anyone gets on my case about that comment, you can't honestly sit there and say anyone but some superstitious religious zealot would have a problem with somebody making a toothpick disappear.

Anyways, I wonder if he knows the one about pulling a lawyer out of his hat?

Uh, sorry, the lawyers are not in hats, they are up someones ***
Now, it sounds to me like there is more going on than meets the eye, not just with his antics. Someone apparently is trying to find a reason to can him, and that was the stupid thing they came up with. Always government, and this time no different.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
The new inquisition is alive and well brainwashing people to fear anything from harry potter to innocent magic tricks.

*sigh* No, the Anti-Christian Conspiracy wishes you to believe Christianity is the evil...and it seems to be working. What was the first thing you accused?

Originally posted by Brothers
I can see the just born again Christians doing this.

Yet again, got to assume blame upon Christianity, eh?

He should turn the principal into a toad.

That'll show 'em

Someone needs to burn for actually believing it was wizardry or real magic. It's an illusion. Just think, someone with power in a high position over our kids believes in magic.

Originally posted by xmotex
He should turn the principal into a toad.

That'll show 'em

He did turn the principal into a toad.

But he got better.

Originally posted by mattifikation
I'll lick my own foot if it turns out it wasn't some whack job uneducated Christian complaining about the toothpick trick who got this famous wizard in so much trouble.

Looking forward to the posted photos.