# Florida substitute teacher fired, accused of "wizardry" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 6, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338 "2008-05-06T20:45:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/1 "2008-05-06T20:45:44Z")
[http://www.wftv.com/irresistible/16168335/detail.html](http://www.wftv.com/irresistible/16168335/detail.html) > [@](#): > > Substitute teacher Jim Piculas made a toothpick disappear, then reappear in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land O’ Lakes, Florida. The Pasco County School District says there were several other performance issues, but none compared to his “wizardry.” > > “I get a call the middle of the day from head of supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, ‘Jim, we have a huge issue. You can’t take any more assignments. You need to come in right away.’ I said, ‘Well, Pat, can you explain this to me?’ ‘You’ve been accused of wizardry,’” Piculas explained. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/2 "2008-05-06T20:54:13Z")
When pitchforks and torches are not enough… ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/3 "2008-05-06T20:54:17Z")
Apparently this wizard didn’t have any other pressing uses for his magick such as having a stack of $1,000,000 in large bills fall on his head or conjuring the body of a willing hollywood superstar, instead preferring to bide his time with the status quo of the world, waiting for the chance to corrupt fallible, fresh-meat minds with the Satanic Cambrium Transposition Encantation and reveling in the squealing pleasure the corruption of such innocent virginals entails. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/4 "2008-05-06T20:54:35Z")
He’s a witch! BURN HIM! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/5 "2008-05-06T20:56:43Z")
He turned me into a NEWT Gingrich. ---
**Author:** ![counsel\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@counsel\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/counsel_wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/6 "2008-05-06T21:01:23Z")
Can’t help but think of this as something from the onion rather than real life. Area Man Weighs Same as Duck was the best onion style headline I could manage. On a more serious note, how does shit like this not get laughed out of the school board meetings? ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/7 "2008-05-06T21:05:06Z")
> [@Article](#): > > Piculas said he’s concerned the incident may prevent him from getting future jobs. With the publicity this is gonna get him, I have a hunch he’s gonna be ok. No…wait…a premonition! _cue spoooooky music_ ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/8 "2008-05-06T21:06:41Z")
Is it just me or is it every news article out of Florida just batshit nutzo? Came for the Monty Python quotes and was not disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/9 "2008-05-06T21:09:49Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] Is it just me or is it every news article out of Florida just batshit nutzo? [/QUOTE] I have to say that the best thing about the guy who locked his daughter in the basement and fathered children on her was that it didn’t happen in Florida. It didn’t even happen in the U.S. Maybe every news article out of Florida reads like a Carl Hiaasen novel, but at least they don’t have a complete lock on crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/10 "2008-05-06T21:18:32Z")
Anyone else here remember Adam Carolla’s old “Florida or Germany” schtick? Seems like we have a natural lead-in over here. This is one of those little things I hate to see in a lede: > [@](#): > > A Florida substitute teacher says his job disappeared after doing a magic trick in front of his students. This makes it sound like the job did the magic trick instead of the teacher. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/11 "2008-05-06T21:20:47Z")
[QUOTE=Dangerosa] I have to say that the best thing about the guy who locked his daughter in the basement and fathered children on her was that it didn’t happen in Florida. It didn’t even happen in the U.S. Maybe every news article out of Florida reads like a Carl Hiaasen novel, but at least they don’t have a complete lock on crazy. [/QUOTE] I agree. When I have read any of Carl Hiaasen’s books it is like it is ripped from the headlines kinda crazy. Austria seems to have a lock on crazy for Europe so far though. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/12 "2008-05-06T21:22:05Z")
He’ll be ok as long as he doesn’t accept the “Defense Against The Dark Arts” position at his next school. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/13 "2008-05-06T21:22:07Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest] Is it just me or is it every news article out of Florida just batshit nutzo? Came for the Monty Python quotes and was not disappointed. [/QUOTE] It’s because we’re Florida, “America’s Wang”. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/14 "2008-05-06T21:30:44Z")
I was really hoping that every state in the US had made it out of the freaking dark ages, but I guess that’s too much. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/15 "2008-05-06T21:47:12Z")
[QUOTE=ultrafilter] I was really hoping that every state in the US had made it out of the freaking dark ages, but I guess that’s too much. [/QUOTE] Yeah, when I saw this story’s headline on FARK, I was sure it had something to do with Nigeria or some other African country, and that it had to do with penis shrinking. Then I saw the “Florida” tag and was surprisingly dismayed. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/16 "2008-05-06T21:54:34Z")
Ok, but how hard is it to get your way with people who think that you’re an actual fucking wizard? You know, “Give me my job back and a million dollar a year raise or I’ll turn you into a donkey.” ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/17 "2008-05-06T22:04:47Z")
Maybe. > [@](#): > > …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. > > Piculas said those other reasons are just window dressing. He said he believes it all comes down to the disappearing-toothpick trick and a student who may have interpreted the trick as wizardry. > > The trick requires a toothpick and transparent tape. A sleight-of-hand maneuver causes the toothpick to disappear then reappear. At least, so it seems. In reality, the toothpick hides behind the performer’s thumb, held in place by the tape. > > “The whole thing lasted 45 seconds,” Piculas said. > > He said the students liked the trick. He showed them how to do it so they could perform it at home. > One student in the Rushe Middle class apparently took the trick the wrong way, Piculas said. He said he was told the student became so traumatized that the student’s father complained. > > Sinclair wrote Piculas a letter, date Jan. 28, to say the district would “no longer be using your services.” The letter mentioned magic tricks at the end of the list of other classroom offenses he is accused of committing. Above is quoted from a longer St Pete Times [article](http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/05/substitute-teacher-says-wizardry-accusation-cost-h/?news-breaking&imw=Y). Pasco county used to be the rural area north of Tampa and Clearwater. It’s become a commuter haven for people who don’t want to or can’t afford to live farther south. Land O’Lakes used to be fairly rural, but I think it’s become a lot more of a suburban area lately. Don’t doubt that there are some evangelical (or similar) Christians there that might be freaked out by magic, but there’s just as good a chance this guy was a goof and is using the magic thing as a red herring. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/18 "2008-05-06T22:10:02Z")
[Wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwizzzzzard!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tqIluIi3_U) [sub]someone had to.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/19 "2008-05-06T22:14:24Z")
Attention all Florida Dopers: when I become God-Empress of Earth, Florida will be cancelled immediately. I will return it to the alligators and giant snakes, and it will be considered a no-man’s-land forevermore. So when you see me begin my ascent to godhood, it’s time to make alternate living arrangements. I know it seems extreme, but it’s really for the best. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338/20 "2008-05-06T22:19:06Z")
Just had to pop back in to share this. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BRWPakkpzrI/hqdefault.jpg "Sifl & Olly - Wizzard") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRWPakkpzrI) - Note:\* If I get banned for sock-puppetry, it will totally be in keeping with the spirit of this tread. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-substitute-teacher-fired-accused-of-wizardry/448338.md?page=2)