The students and staff of Woodland have always known Deborah Flaherty as being the number one Harry Potter fanatic, but when she started making morning announcements asking for Dumbledore’s Army to meet after school, some had thought that she’d actually come to the conclusion that she was teaching at Hogwarts, not Woodland. And believe it or not, Flaherty will soon become head master at Hogwarts Regional.

She had always wanted to create a Harry Potter themed day, but this year Region 16 made it possible. For this school year, Region 16 gave out thirteen different innovative grants for 650 dollars each. Knowing that they were giving out grants, Flaherty immediately began to create a day full of potion and puzzles. And her grant was given.

“Part of the premise of why this grant got accepted is because its enrichment and it helps expand on the common core,” said Flaherty. “Even if the students haven’t read the books, it’s in hopes that some will read the books or make connections so it’s a real life, real world connection that they make to their reading.”

Because it is a day full of enrichment, Flaherty magically added a little bit of education in each class that the students will take. Throughout the day, eight different classes will be offered.

Students will be able to take a potion making class which will explore the different sciences and measurements.

There’s a wand making class where students will create magical wands using clay and magical elements such unicorn hairs, dragon scales, and phoenix feathers.

The students will be able to step into the shoes of a journalist if they take the Quibbler class where they will interview Harry Potter Characters and report about magical happenings around the world. Their stories will then be placed into a virtual newspaper that will later be emailed to them.

Since it is the favorite of most children, they will also have a lunch period with Mrs. Weasley where they will learn how to make delectable chocolate frog legs and magical pretzel wands.

In the divination class, the little wizards will learn to do tea leaf reading where they will discover how to find patterns among the tea leaves. They’ll even read palms in this class. When it is finally time to sit down, students will have the opportunity to gather around the fire (electric of course) and read grim tales in the class Reading with Belatrix.

Although they may not be able to fly on broomsticks, the chasers, keepers, beaters, and seekers will be able to play in a competitive game of quidditch with Madame Hooch.

And the eighth class offered will be a herbology class where the wizards will plant safe, learn magical properties of real plants, and even preserve guiliweed.

With these classes, students will be able to have an extreme amount of fun all while learning about math, science, art, cooking, and reading which is exactly what Flaherty is hoping to accomplish. For the ninety that were luckily able to sign up, they will have an opportunity to choose from just four of these amazing classes.

One of the coolest and most unique parts of this program is that all classes will need Hogwarts professors. And many of the Woodland teachers have volunteered to take on a new identity. For Harry Potter day, certain teachers will be playing the roles of the characters in Harry Potter. We don’t want to give all of them away, but let’s just say Mrs. Kilcoruse could easily craze her hair out to scare the little wizards sitting around the fire. And well, there is no better Luken then Mr. Geary. The teachers who have volunteered cannot wait to spread their love of the novels onto the next generations.

“Harry Potter has brought kids around the world together and they can share into the magic of Harry Potter, ” stated the once math teacher, now wand maker Mary Hrenko. “It’s been translated into over fifty different languages, so you could have a conversation with pretty much any kid around the world about Harry Potter and it just gets kids excited about reading.”

Along with the help of the staff, the students, Dumbledore’s Army, will also be playing a huge role. The army is responsible for inviting the students, setting up the materials for the potions, being teachers assistants, and helping the little wizards navigate from one magical class to the next. Since Harry Potter is such a huge hit, the students of Woodland were more than willing to help.

“I came to help because I love Harry Potter,” said senior Angela Plourde.

Even though the day will be filled with magic, muggles, and mysteries, it will have a positive impact on each student that attends, whether they like Harry Potter or not. They will be able to make discoveries and learn through real world hands on experiences all while pretending that they are spending the day at Hogwarts with Harry Potter and his crew. The children will come together and experience and learn, just like the world did when the books became popular.

“I may be a math teacher but reading is a cool thing,” said Hrenko.  “And if this could help a kid blossom their love of reading, I think its an amazing thing.”

The event will take place at Woodland on Saturday March 30, 2013. Students should be dropped off at about noon and then picked up at approximately 5:30 P.M. For more information of if you are looking to volunteer and get involved, contact Deborah Flaherty at dflaherty@region16ct.org.