Dumbledore is gay (and I mean that with love!)

J.K. Rowling, author of the world-wide best-selling Harry Potter series, met some of her American fans Friday night and provided some surprising revelations about the fictional characters who a generation of children have come to regard as close friends.

In front of a full house of hardcore Potter fans at Carnegie Hall in New York, Rowling, sitting on the stage on a red velvet and carved wood throne, read from her seventh and final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," then took questions. One fan asked whether Albus Dumbledore, the head of the famed Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, had ever loved anyone. Rowling smiled. "Dumbledore is gay, actually," replied Rowling as the audience errupted in surprise. She added that, in her mind, Dumbledore had an unrequited love affair with Gellert Grindelwald, Voldemort's predecessor who appears in the seventh book. After several minutes of prolonged shouting and clapping from astonshed fans, Rowling added. "I would have told you earlier if I knew it would make you so happy."

In answer to the question "Did Hagrid marry?" Rowling replied that sadly, no. The half-giant had a flirtation with a giantess but she found him "a tad unsophisticated" and the relationship never went forward. In response to the audience's groans of dismay, Rowling said, jokingly, "O.K., I'll write another book." And when the audience continued to express disapproval added, "at least I didn't kill him."

Other minor characters, according to Rowling, came to happier ends. Neville Longbottom, Harry's meek and hapless classmate, married Hannah Abbott, another classmate.

--Peg Tyre www.newsweek.com

Are you ready for some football?

It will come as no surprise to any of you that I am NOT a football fan. That being said, I will admit that I have been pushing to have football at Sacopee Valley since I started working there four years ago. I remember talking to Little Dustin's mother when he was a freshman. "Why doesn't Sacopee have football?" I asked. And she said, "Oh we're working on it!" And here we are, four years later. After much work and determination by our former principal and a dedicated group of teachers and parents who saw the absolute NEED for Hawks football, we finally have a team. Yee ha!

Why was I such an advocate for Sacopee football, you may ask? The answer is simple: we needed it. My high school had a HUGE football team (and a stadium, if the truth be told) and I saw what the team did for the school and the community as a whole. It wasn't just about the players or the fans; it was about school pride. Students who never attended anything else were sure to freeze their butts off in the bleachers every Thanksgiving morning to see the big Bayonne High versus Marist football game. It didn't matter how well either of the teams did the rest of the season: Thanksgiving game was THE brag point for the remainder of the year until Thanksgiving rolled around again.

Sacopee needed that. I'm not saying that the multitude of activities, clubs, and events didn't serve students, because they absolutely did (and do!) But there was a huge untapped population of kids at Sacopee that didn't have one ounce of school pride, who wouldn't be caught dead in the building or on school grounds after 2:15. It was those kids that we, as teachers, failed to serve. That's why we needed football.

And so here I am, writing this the morning after Sacopee's first home game. It didn't much matter that we won (we did -- 48 to 14 or something like that). What DID matter was all the fans I saw there. Let me tell you, it was huge. I saw administration, teachers, secretaries, lunch ladies, custodians, parents, alumni, and TONS AND TONS of students. There were students there that I would have bet money would never go. Oh they were there. I saw students who graduated years and years ago. I saw community members whose children had long-since graduated. I saw people from out of the district too, all there to watch Sacopee Valley history: our first home game.

I won't lie. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the actual game (I do know that we won!) Like I said, I don't much care for sports. The fun I had was watching all the fans, stomping and cheering. I couldn't help but smile when mobs of middle school girls swarmed Ford so they could have him paint their favorite player's number on their cheeks. And I absolutely ADORED our new Hawks mascot (now I love Seany Mc EVEN MORE -- if that was possible!) The community that was created last night was magical, and I feel so very fortunate to have been able to see it. For the first time in I don't know how long, I saw genuine SACOPEE PRIDE.

Truth be told, I will probably never attend a football game (Sacopee or otherwise) ever again. And that's okay. I feel like I already saw this community at its very best, and man oh man, does that make me proud. Sacopee pride finally IS district wide.

And the best part is: it will only get better!

Lurch

Many thanks to all of you who were so supportive on Friday when I told you that I had to put my cat of 16 years to sleep. As it turned out, I didn't have to make that decision at all because he passed away on his own (after, of course, we had driven all the way to the vet. It was SO my cat's personality to say," hey, I'll die on my own time thank you very much!"

Now Lurch is buried in Mr. and Mrs. Hodgdon's yard with a bunch of Hodgdon kitties who had already passed. Even though I thought I was going to be a total mess, it was actually a natural and life-affirming experience. I'm grateful to have had that cat in my life so for many years, especially since he wasn't supposed to reach his first birthday. Living 15 years past your life expectancy is pretty neato, I think.

Anyway, thanks for everything, folks. You rock.

Thankful...

Maybe it's corny to say this, but I love my job.

I am thankful each and every day for the pleasure of getting to work with the students I work with. They make me laugh every single day, challenge me, affirm my decision to be a teacher... really, I am blessed.

For all my students out there who actually take the time to read this here blog, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You guys rock, I swear, you do.

Ms. H

I'm SO excited, and I just can't hide it!!!

Even though the 2006-2007 academic year is barely over, I'm already thinking about NEXT year. Maybe it's a bit premature considering that grades aren't even due yet, the eighth grade teachers aren't moved into the middle school, and the desk in the office is covered with unclaimed "stuff" retrieved from lockers that weren't cleaned out properly. But all that doesn't matter! My head is firmly into the "next year!"

Why am I so excited about next year, you may ask? Well, quite simply put, it is a momentous year for me. Next year will be my fourth year teaching at Sacopee and also... my last. Yes, that' s right. It isn't really a secret that after next year, I am moving back to the west coast. But really, that's not why I'm excited.

I'm excited because I have THE BEST class schedule next year. On blue days I have period one team time, period two English 12, period three AP Literature , and period four English 12. On white days I have period five AP Literature, period six AP Literature, period seven English 12, and period eight planning. To recap: That's three sections of AP Literature and three sections of English 12. Woo hoo!

To make good things better, all of my students next year will be the FRESHMEN I had when I first started. It will be like we're graduating together. Awww.

So yes, I have never felt better and more excited about an upcoming year than I do about next year.

Here's to a great year.

What do you think???

Just the facts, ma'am

Contrary to popular opinion, teachers actually do have lives outside of the classroom. I know, I know, it's very hard to believe. I had a hard time accepting it myself, but was welcomed into the "inner sanctuary of teacher truths" as a first grader when my Aunt became a teacher. You see, I knew SHE actually did normal things like use the toilet, wear jeans, and occasionally drop the f-bomb. If she was a teacher and she did those things, well, it was safe to assume that ALL teachers actually did. *GASP!*

Obviously I'm dating myself here. I don't think that teachers hold quite the same mystical other-worldliness that they did when I was a little kid growing up in New Jersey. Or maybe they still do -- but definitely not to the teenage students I teach. Maybe that's not entirely correct either. A few years ago, I was really sick and didn't go to school but had to venture out later that night because my cat had a vet appointment that couldn't be rescheduled. After the vet visit, I was exhausted and stopped by the local pizza place to pick up my daughter's dinner. I walk in and couldn't help noticing how incredibly crowded it was for a Tuesday night only to learn a nanosecond later that the ENTIRE boys' and girls' varsity soccer teams were having their end-of-the-season dinner. There I was with NO make up on, my hair up in an untidy (and unattractive) ponytail on the top of my head, and in my most comfortable (but also unattractive) pajamas. I swear, you could have heard crickets! Finally, one brave soul called out "you must really be sick because you look TERRIBLE." Ah youth. Perhaps that teacher-awe is still there to some extent -- but only when a teacher shows up in some public place looking haggard.

But I digress. A lot.

My point is that I figured I would use this space to give some background info on where I came from, who I am, and what I do when I'm not in school. Sounds like a plan. Onward!

I'm originally from NJ which is clearly evidenced whenever I say words such as "coffee, dog, or daughter." I graduated high school in 1990 and headed to New York to attend New York University. At NYU, I planned on majoring in Journalism, but after just one semester's class, I made a huge discovery: I don't like journalism at all. Not that it really mattered though, because after a year, I couldn't afford the tuition anyway. I took off a year from school hoping to be able to save money, but the financial aid laws changed that year, and I ended up getting about $.63 in aid (definitely not enough to pay my tuition).

Instead of making an educated choice and going to Rutgers University (where I would have most likely gotten a full scholarship because my high school grades were really, really good), I applied and was accepted to the University of Southern Maine. There, I earned my BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing in 1997. Why did it take me so long time to graduate? I won't lie. Prior to that, I was in perma-student mode and would have happily stayed immature and in classes forever. Don't get me wrong, I didn't like school (never did and probably never will) but I did like the social aspect of college, the fact that I was among learned folk, blah blah blah), but graduating (and therefore growing up) was not something I particularly wanted to do. But in 1995, I got pregnant with my daughter and BELIEVE ME when I tell you, nothing grows you up like the responsibility of another human being!

Since it took me so long to get my BA, once I graduated, I was very, very motivated to get my Masters degree. I had always wanted to teach (after my journalism phase was over) and so I applied to the very well-known teacher preparation program at USM. It was a difficult program with student teaching all day and classes from 4-9:30 at night, but the up side was that it was only for a year and it was well-respected. Pretty much all students who graduated from that program get hired within a month of graduating and I liked those odds. Even though it was competitive, I had very good grades (I graduated with a 3.67) and even better interviewing skills. So I applied and was interviewed... and then wasn't accepted! I had NEVER been denied admission before and so I promptly called them. The admissions lady very rudely told me that since I had an infant at home, she didn't think the program was quite suited for me. Then she told me that since it took me so long to graduate (five years at USM and one at NYU) she didn't think I could handle the schedule. I was, in a word, crushed. A fabulous administrator at USM suggested I look into another Masters program, which I did and LOVED it. I graduated in a year and a half from that program with a Masters of Science in Education with concentrations in Higher Education Administration and Counseling.

In my mind, teaching was out of the question (because I hadn't been accepted, I saw this as a clear sign that the Universe wanted me to do other things). I went to work in higher education administration at at a state college upstate New York. After one semester, I was given the opportunity to teach a course at the college. I agreed because it seemed like a fun thing to do (and it was) but it also got me hooked into the whole teachin' thang again. I taught every semester after that for the three years that I worked there. After that, I moved to California to another higher ed job, but only because it guaranteed me the opportunity to teach two courses a semester. After five years of teaching, I realized (duh) that the only part I really enjoyed about my higher education administration job was the "education" part of it. Teaching was what made me happy and I realized that it was what I needed to do full time. (Clearly, I had misinterpreted the Universe).

In 2002, I returned to Maine. I had, on a whim, applied for Maine teacher certification while I still lived in California, and so I actively started job searching. I was certified for 7-12 English/Language Arts, but I couldn't really see myself working with middle schoolers after working with adults for so many years. When a position opened up at a small high school in rural Maine, I immediately applied. During the interview, I KNEW I had that job. It just felt right! I started teaching soon after and I'm still there (and loving it).

My first year at SVHS, I taught freshmen, which I enjoyed, but it was a HUGE culture shock. When the teacher who had previously taught twelfth grade asked if I would be interested in switching, I jumped at the opportunity. Since I started working in September of 2004, I have had the opportunity to teach a variety of courses and work with a group of amazing students. I have taught Essential English, Creative Writing, Advanced Creative Writing, and English Practicum. This year, I'm teaching Advanced Placement Literature and Composition, College Writing, Creative Writing, Advanced Creating Writing, Maine Writers, Women Writers, and Grammar and Composition. (whew!) Next year, I'll be teaching more of the same!

Well then, that was longer than I had expected, but I'm sure it will give you a little insight into the wonders that is *me*!