NMS Student Newsletter

Halloween started in Ireland and Britain. They celebrated a holiday on November 1 and the festival began on October 31 October 31 became All Hollows Eve, which eventually shortened into what we now call Halloween. It started with people go door-to-door asking for food and eventually they began dressing up and carving faces into various squash. This eventually turned into trick-or-treating and carving pumpkins. The United States took on these traditions and here, kids walk house to house, dressed up with their friends and family asking for candy while saying trick-or-treat. The "trick" used refer to the possibility of a mischievous prank, such as soaping windows, toilet papering houses or throwing eggs at houses though it is rarely carried out today. The "treat": is the candy that the children will receive

Cece Wisdom: Even though I am not one of your students I have still been informed of your obsession with “cheap pom poms” can you elaborate on that?

Mr. Fraser: First of all I'd like to say that I am insulted by the question, I like all Pom poms not just cheap ones, because I feel that as a teacher it is my job to be a cheerleader for my students.

C:Have you ever met a famous person? If so, how?

F:Kate de Camilo.

c:Seriously?

F:The author of Because of Winn-Dixie. Yeah, she tried to ask me out on a date. I swear to God. Where's Mrs. Fraser? Oh my gosh. Okay. She did it right in front of my wife. Until she realized it was my wife. Where is she?

*He then proceeded to look for his wife, but could not find her*

C: 3rd Question, What's your favorite part about teaching science in particular? So like, not just teaching, but science?

F: That all five classes are different because kids ask different questions so I don't get bored teaching science all day long. Can you imagine teaching the same math problem five times in one day? I would want to poke my eyes out with my fingernails. I have nice cuticles. Oh, wow. She (Referring to Cece) has really long Fingernails.

*After a pause*

C: Okay. How many subjects have you taught then?

F: All of them.

C: What was your favorite subject when you went to school?

F: I hated school.

Daniel Burgess: So then what made you want to become a teacher if you hated school?

F:I became a teacher because of all the teachers I hated, not because of the teacher I liked. Believe it or not. So a lot of us do that. I became the teacher I wish I had, and I never got. I knew I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was 12 or 13. I was a counselor at Camp Wing in Duxbury. And I had a kid in my group, and I didn't know what autism was back then, but he had autism, like full-blown autism. But I knew he just wanted to have fun with everyone else. He just was a little different, and I treated him with dignity and respect. And his dad and mom, on the last day of the session, were crying and thanked me so much for taking care of their kid. And I was like, what? No big deal. And they're like, “Oh, no, it was a big deal. It was a big deal to him and to us. You should be a teacher when you grow up.” I was like, oh. And I did.

D: What hobbies do you have other than like... I know you like DD and science?

F: I don't like science, not my favorite subject. Oh. Believe it or not, hold on, let me yell at them (His Current Class).

*He then proceeded to yell at them.*

F: What do I like to do? Yeah. I love to read. Big reader. That includes audiobooks. I fall asleep listening to audiobooks every night. I do enjoy Dungeons and Dragons. I wish I could play sometimes instead of just running the games. I don't get to play anymore. I just run games. I like being outdoors. I like nature a lot. Do you know what my three favorite colors are? Green, brown, blue. Yeah. I'm awesome. I would always tell people what my favorite colors were, and I didn't know why. And then one kid one day, a seventh grader, many moons ago, was like, dude, that's the colors of nature. And I was like “OH”

C: Last question before this gets too long.

*Mrs. Fraser walks past*

D: We need you as a secondary source.

F: Oh. So, they asked me if I've ever met anybody famous, and I said, yes. I met Kate De Camilo. And I said, she asked me out right in front of my wife.

D: And we didn't believe that it actually happened.

Mrs. Fraser: It's a true story. I know. I don't think she was asking him, like... He may have taken it a little out of context. I think she may have just wanted to get to know him. It was still a little weird, I'm not going to lie. It was weird. But yeah.

F: Yeah, she was. And rich. But I loved you. And still do.

Mrs. Fraser: Yeah, I was a little thrown off. But that is a true story.

F: You're a bigger fan of hers than I am.

Mrs. Fraser: I am. Yeah, I named one of our cats after the character in Because of Winn-Dixie. She wrote Because of Winn Dixie, The Tiger Rising. Is this going to be published? Yeah. Wait, no, you're not putting that in it, right?

*Some Time Later*

C: We know your birthday was last week. What was your favorite part of your birthday?

F:That I don't have to have another one for another 364 days. I don't like being the center of attention.