Because Milk Would Spoil the Children...

A California school decided recently that milk was inappropriate for children. Harvey Milk, that is. Natalie Jones, a sixth grade student at Mt. Woodson Elementary in Ramona, was inspired by the movie and had dedicated a presentation to the late 'Mayor of Castro Street'. School administrators required children to get parental permission to watch the presentation after labeling it "sex education"... they then proceeded to tell Natalie she could only give the speech at recess.

Her mother, Bonnie Jones, was appalled. "To say my daughter's presentation is 'sex education' because Harvey Milk happened to be gay is completely wrong." And now, the ACLU is getting involved. Sounds like there might be plenty of spilled milk to cry over after all...

But Does She Float?

It is said that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. This point may have been proved true recently in an adult education class in Ferndale, Michigan.

Students in a classroom at Taft Education Center were studying The Crucible, a play pertaining to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. On September 10th, 20-year-old Darin Najor asked the educator outright if she believed in witchcraft. She replied in the negative and further explained that the point of the play was to demonstrate unjust persecution. Najor then tossed his studies to the floor, declaring it "blasphemy".

The following day, he stepped up behind the teacher who was sitting at her desk. While chanting what reportedly sounded like "religious verses", he poured a liquid (later said to be holy water—Najor's attempt at "purifying" the professor) over the head of his teacher and produced a cigarette lighter to "burn the witch". Najor fled the class but was soon found by the teacher and a security guard in his car in the parking lot where he further attempted to burn her with a lit cigarette.

Darin was arrested Monday on an assault and battery warrant. The pretrial is scheduled for October 23rd. Fittingly, Najor does not have an attorney for the case.

After over 300 years, some people just can't quite grasp the lessons of history. Or perhaps he isn't as dim-witted as we percieve and merely attempted to reenact the proceedings of the times.

This isn't the sort of "live history" anyone had in mind.

At least he didn't drop a house on her.

Waken Thou With Me...

I have been reminiscent of my latter school days lately. Mostly, it is from the notion that I was, at that moment, so oblivious to the subtle messages sent to me from one of my teachers.

Since he is still in the educational system, I will avoid any direct mention of his name, yet he knows who he is. He was both an educator and a vocal coach to me as I made my way toward college, majoring in music. I was on the timid and shy side in those days. I kept to myself and never quite felt that I fit in. Apparently, one teacher recognized this... and in ways I couldn't imagine at the time.

Theater and music brought me out of my shell, and I decided a major reflecting that would be best suited for me. Even though I felt inadequate, I was pushed onward by one teacher in particular. He was in his 20s and quickly became one of my favorites.

While most of my peers ignored my lack of social and dating life, I sometimes wonder if he took notice of it. While I was quiet, I completely avoided coming out of the closet, not wanting to give anyone extra ammunition against me. I kept to myself a lot but allowed myself a little artistic freedom on stage and in music classes. Nothing out of the ordinary happened in school but when I began gearing up for college and sought private lessons for my audition into the school of music, I noticed certain things which, in hindsight, were very blatant.

At his house, I would learn vocal exercises and more challenging music to prove myself worthy of acceptance into the college program. Two pieces were chosen for me: 'Nina' by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and 'Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal' by Roger Quilter. The latter work had lyrics by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. It would be a decade before I bothered to note that both Quilter and Tennyson were gay. I am uncertain about Pergolesi and he was merely 26 when he died of tuberculosis.

I do recall one incident during a lesson that became etched in my mind. Before the lesson, I mentioned how I wanted to sing Danny Boy, a song I had always liked. he thought it was a bit too simplistic, but we practiced it briefly anyway. Midway through the song, he stopped and looked at me with a curious expression.

"I always wondered. This song is sung by a man to another man, isn't it?" he asked.

I was dumbfounded. "Um, well," I stuttered, "it's sung between a father and son."

"Oh. Right," he replied. A snide grin flashed across his face. With that, he said we should get back to Nina. "Where were we? Oh yeah, she's in her bed... the bitch is dead, blah, blah, blah..."

I chuckled a bit. I didn't want to assume anything. With hindsight, it seemed completely obvious that it was a semi-subtle way of acknowledging a secret we both shared in common.

That was the same day I met his "roommate". I'll confess, I thought he was quite handsome.

It wasn't until after graduation that the truth finally leaked out. They had been together since college. There was a bit of a scandal in school when he had been accused of having an affair with one of my classmate's mothers. It lead to a divorce, but I'm certain this little secret came out. I'm not sure if he was relieved of his teaching duties or left voluntarily, but he still is in the education system in a new place with a different role. I did a little researching years ago and had a friend who encountered him a few times as they went to the same gym.

Part of me thinks I couldn't have been that ignorant. Perhaps I was trying to live in denial that someone could pick up on my little secret. Yet often, others know before we do. Sometimes they acknowledge it, sometimes they stay silent.

I do regret not thanking him for making me feel a little less outside of normal. For making my high school years more fun and memorable. For introducing me to a spectrum of music which had passed me by at that point in my life. The Village People. Gloria Estefan. Maria Carey. And the music and lyrics which still linger with me to this day...

"Now folds the lily all her sweetness up,
And slips into the bosom of the lake:
So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip
Into my bosom and be lost in me."

Beyond Late for Class...

Students at Asheville High School in Asheville, North Carolina might feel a bit anxious about returning after summer vacation, but now they have another reason to worry.

They're school might be haunted.

Surveillance footage of the school's rotunda recently captured an anomaly on film. What appears to be a shadowy figure can be seen roaming the room and leaving through the hallway in the early hours of the morning.

While public relations director Charlie Glazener says he doesn't believe in ghosts, he's having a difficult time wrapping his mind around the video. This skeptic is slowly becoming a believer.

Here is the full news story:

I Saw It With My Own Third Eye...

Colleen Leduc pulled her daughter, Victoria Nolet, out of Terry Fox Elementary School last week in Ontario, Canada. She no longer trusts the school system after an incident involving a teacher... and a psychic.

In the city of Barrie, 50 miles north of Toronto, Simcoe County District School Board contacted the Children's Aide Society to investigate an allegation of sexual abuse against the 11-year-old student last week. What could possibly prompt such a drastic measure, you ask? Why, the word of a psychic, of course.

Victoria's Educational Assistant recently visited a psychic. She was told that a student of hers, whose name begins with "V", was being sexually abused by a man between 23 and 26 years old. Mrs. Deluc was called into the school urgently, notified about the information, and handed a list of behaviors her daughter was exhibiting that coincided with victims of abuse.

The only problem is Victoria is severely autistic and nonverbal, and those behaviors are common with the disorder. And never mind the fact that she doesn't have any contact with males of that age range.

Oops.

The school board claims they were merely "following protocol" and "in all cases this (information) must be reported". CAS found no evidence of abuse and dropped the investigation, yet Mrs. Deluc is still infuriated. She demands an apology and is considering legal action against the school system.

So a family can be investigated for abuse on the whim of a psychic, yet it takes extreme measures for someone to be diagnosed with a mental disease? That sounds fair to me...

A Small School for Spookery...

Curious about ghosts? Why not attend Ghost Hunter University?

Christopher Moon of Haunted Times Magazine is the creator of this paranormal seminar, held at haunted locations around the US. Among the locations holding G.H.U. this year are Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast in Massachusetts, Mason House Inn Bed & Breakfast in Iowa, and The Brumder Mansion Bed & Breakfast in Wisconsin. Participants learn the basics of investigating hauntings and have opportunities for hands-on training during their weekend stay. They also recommend that you bring your own camera, camcorder, EMF meter, and voice recorder.

So far, the past few years have been quite successful. And whether you're a novice or a skeptic, they welcome everyone.

If you're at all curious, just call 1-877-880-6232 for further information... or check the Haunted Times website.

Grounded for Life...

New York has more than its share of strange people. But not all of them are intentionally weird.

A 12-year-old boy from Pulaski has been causing problems at Lura Sharp Elementary School. Whenever he would work at a computer, it would freeze and crash. An awards show was nearly canceled when the slide projector near him malfunctioned. Once he was moved away from the hard drive, things went smoothly.

Is he a troublemaker with a eye for technology? not at all. Somehow, he effects electronic devices in his general vicinity. The trouble isn't limited to school, either. At home, his Xbox 360 would freeze up every time he tried to play it.

School officials gave Joseph Falciatano, a.k.a. "Magneto Boy", a special wristband to wear, grounding him and any possible electrical field, and have had no further problems. An expert in static electricity was called in and has yet to discover the cause of these unusual problems.

Just How Evil is Your Headmaster?

Back in January, I posted a story about a haunted school in Malaysia. Now, the struggle between the forces of the supernatural and the department of education have returned... on the other end of the globe.

This time, evil has struck South Africa.

Last week, classes were interrupted at Siyabonga Secondary School in Illovo. Students complained of an inexplicable sickness. Some fainted, screamed, vomited, or worse. The police were contacted when students attacked some of the teachers, demanding to see the principal.

According to the 11th grade students, he was a witch and invoked demons to effect the students.

Sounds strikingly similar to the Salem Witchcraft Trials which took place approximately 400 years ago in Massachusetts. those were caused by hysteria... this is probably no exception. It's interesting to see how little people actually change over the course of history...

It's a Pandemic of Paranormal Paranoia!

Perhaps Malaysian school girls watch The Ring too many times. Perhaps the stress of school work leads to hallucinations. Or perhaps, a campus has suddenly become the target of wildly frantic ghosts.

Yes, it's true. At Sekolah Menengah Sains Dungun in (obviously) Dungun, Malaysia, classes have been canceled and the school closed for four days.

A bomb scare? Dangerous lead levels? No. Girls screaming about ghosts chasing them.

Several students have reported a female apparition at various locations around campus. There has been such a frenzied panic among the students involved that it spread like wildfire. To avoid further incidents, the school closed its doors, sending local students home and forcing others to remain in their dorms.

To my knowledge, there has never been something quite like this on record. It began during an assembly when one girl started screaming that a ghost was in the room and seemed to be after her. From there, it was a chain reaction.

That makes me very suspicious. Mass hysteria goes happen. From my experience, ghosts suddenly appearing and terrorizing students like a scene from the movie Ghostbusters doesn't actually happen in real life. My vote is for fear and not spirits of the dead.

Perhaps someone didn't study for that exam in World History II and wanted an excuse to get out of class. If so, they found more than they bargained for...