The 2025 Halloween Spooktacular! Producer’s Choice Show #23

you know what that means? Well, you can hear the music. It's Jacob's producer's choice,

pencils, fully-led education talk, educated education, talking education, Dr. Tim Selecker me,

Dr. Johnny Lupinacci him, and Jacob, he, the other producer, yeah, not the other, the producer,

Jacob, Johnny and I are so happy you invited us to be on our show today.

Thank you so much for being here, Dr. Tim Selecker and Dr. Johnny Lupinacci.

I really appreciate it. I know there's a lot of other shows like you could have gone on John

and Gordy or really any show, but you came on your own show and that really, I appreciate that.

We, because we love you, Jacob, because we love you. When you invite us, the answer is,

what time I'll be there? What time? And what, what do you need me to bring?

The only thing I needed you to bring today, Tim, was your good friend, Johnny,

so it all worked out and yeah, it's that time of year. So this is actually a pretty special

episode of the Busted Pencils Producer's Choice Show and it wouldn't be the Producer's Choice Show

without some sort of intro that I cooked up. So here we go. Let's do it.

No child will be left behind.

It is the scary month.

It is the scary month, everybody, as Dr. Tim said once to me earlier this month, I'm scared.

You should be Tim, not because of my hard questions, but because this is a special

frightening edition of the Producer's Choice Show. Folks today, I producer Jacob

am here to introduce two terrifying guests. Dr. Tim Selecker and Dr. Johnny Lupinacci,

thank you guys for being here on this spooky episode about the producer's choosing stuff.

Welcome. Thank you, Jacob. We are very happy to be here. Now I know we have to get out of here.

There's trick or treating. We don't even have our costumes on yet. So I'm not going to keep us

here all day. But just a couple Halloween related education questions, things that have been stuck

in my mind since last October when I was listening to this show as a mere listener. Now I'm a producer

and I thought I can finally ask these guys these questions. So I'm going to start us off.

I'm going to go to Dr. Johnny. Dr. Johnny, what's your favorite Halloween costume that you wore

either as a student or a teacher? We got to have worn this in a school.

Oh boy, costume in a school. Let me think about that real quick.

I think I can't put my finger on my favorite.

You know, it's a close three-way tie. No, I got it, man. I got it one year.

So I had a lot of really great costumes and it was going to be a three-way tie between my

normal go-to is to keep the mustache, shape the beard, get decked out in Mario Garb and be Mario.

I love to be Mario. I've been in way too many times.

Another version, some version of a hockey player because I always have a bunch of hockey gear hanging

around. But one year, I was zombie version of my favorite Red Wing at the time, Pavel Dodzuk.

I was teaching math and I was zombie dot-sook. That was one of my favorite. I had a lot of energy.

It was a Friday Halloween, much like this year's. So teachers, Friday Halloween, you got a little

more umph and you have to stand at the end of the week and you have the weekend to recover.

But I did a full zombie dot costume. I had the jersey, the brain bucket up top and pair gloves

and look really like I could be zombie, Pavel Dodzuk. So that was my favorite

pie top costume as a teacher. I don't know that I except being a kid dressed up

much in school. I didn't really. We didn't really have Halloween costumes too much

in school growing up.

Johnny, I think that when it comes to hockey and Halloween, the best costume is always

getting one of those full-cage helmets and having half a stick poking out of the eye.

That's always a good one. That's a good one. You got to take advantage. You got all that space

in there. You can have a little blood squirter every couple of minutes. Anyway, just an idea

for next year. I'm giving guys free, free advice here. But Tim, how about you? What's your favorite

costume that you've worn in a school, either as a teacher or as a student?

My year, you're going to be surprised. But I was Mr. Spock when I was a fifth grade teacher.

My ears were the best feature. Construction paper back in the supply room, cut those out,

little bit of Scotch tape. I had my pointy ears put together my shirt.

At that time, that was 1992. Kind of a lull in the Star Trek time and for 10-year-old kids,

they had no idea who I was. I was so glad down because of how hard I had worked on

the ears. I did the eyebrows with, yes, I used an eyeliner to kind of give me those eyebrows,

put together the shirt, blue and everything. Got a pair of black pants and some black boots,

tucked my pants in my boots. And I got to Mr. Slecker, what are you?

And I said, I'm Mr. Spock. And they were like, who?

They had no idea who Mr. Spock was. So, does that mean that that wasn't my favorite costume?

No. That was my favorite costume. You don't do it for them, Tim.

No, one of my best costumes. So in this whole, though, too, I'll give you one more just

for quick. Johnny knows this. I, you know, history guy, some of the things that I've done in,

you know, back in the day, I was a civil war reenactor. And when I was at my very first

institution of higher education, the State University of New York at Courtland, I showed up

Halloween as a union soldier from the 93rd regimen of Pennsylvania, full civil war garb

did not bring the musket in, though. And that time it was way different because you came in and

all the kids were like, 93rd division. I got the, now you're dealing with 20-year-old college

students who were kind of like, like, given me the look like, like, what's wrong with you?

And why do you have a full civil war uniform? Doesn't everybody?

And then, well, that's what I was just saying. And, and you know what, though, hey, if you're

listening to the show, that civil war uniform is going to go on sale next week. Just put that

out there because, but no, that, those are my, my two favorites. And, you know, I, I love

Halloween as a kid. Yeah, I, wow. Look at that. Should we describe what we're seeing

Tim because we're on the radio? Would you like? Yeah. Johnny Lupinacci, doctor. Lupin

got my costume on, boys. I'm podcast panda. He's podcast panda. Nice. Yes. Dr. Johnny Lupinacci kind

of went off screen for a moment and came back wearing a full headed, fully furred black and white

panda costume. Jacob, is that what you would say he's doing? He looks perfectly normal to

meet him. What are you talking about? Are you, wait, are you seeing things, Tim? Johnny,

you're not wearing a costume, right? No, I don't, who's Johnny? This is podcast panda.

I was trying to make you think you're crazy because it's Halloween. But, uh, no, he looked super

cool. I'm not going to lie. I mean, that was one of the best costumes I've ever seen. Yeah,

that would be a cool one. That's 10 out of 10. Yeah, you got to go. Okay, Jacob. Anyway,

yeah, moving on to another great awesome Halloween education related question. We're going to

round robin this and stay with you, Tim. Dr. Tim Slecker. Now, we've talked about your awesome

costumes, but what's the coolest costume that you've seen either a student or a teacher colleague

wear in all your years? I mean, they can't all be, I mean, I'm sure they're not as cool as Spock,

but um, favorite school. I am, but I'm just thinking this one, it made me laugh, made me laugh

so hard. Um, when a kid had come in, this one was fifth grade, um, and had this incredibly weird

looking costume. But if you saw him walking down the hallway, you're like, what is going on? And,

because it had like, you know, like these, it was like a white costume. And you're like, what's

that ball hanging down? And why does he have gloves on his, on his feet? He was going as an

person walking on their hands, except that he legs became his hands. And you know, those kind

of like mannequin things for he had that head hanging, well, you know, and so it looked like,

yes, he was half of his body was walking on his hands and then the other half of his body was

his upright body. Um, why it kind of cool, funny, creative, more funny watching him go on the,

trick or treating around the school to the classrooms and making him try to walk with

carrying that big mannequin head, um, you know, where it would hang. Now, Tim, you thought that this

was confusing to see in real life. Imagine how confusing it is to hear about it on a podcast.

Okay. So just trying to talk about the hamburger helper hand is what this guy's stuff.

No, no, no, what's your time? It's it's so stand there, stand just as you would. And then

imagine getting, you know, a, a fake head from a mannequin. And having that attached to hang

between your legs and then on the ends of your feet, um, putting gloves on to mimic that,

that you have somebody doing a, uh, walking on their hands, right? But what do you do about your

real head? That's the cool part of the costume. It's like a double person. Okay. So you look like two

people who are like cartwheeling together, basically. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's,

and then he said, I mean, it was funny and great, but it was just more fun. I'm watching

them try to walk. Yeah. You know, so and um, but yeah, that's probably one of my, one of my

all-time favorites. Fantastic answer to him. Most creative, you know, enjoyable, but, um,

I don't know, man, that's just tough one though. I'm trying to think of some teacher colleagues who

have really outdone themselves during that. And then, you know, I've seen some really good

back to Johnny. I've seen some teachers really go all out with an incredible zombie costume.

Um, you know, to the point where it's like, okay, you spent hours getting ready to come to school

this morning, um, because that zombie might, you look like you might have just walked off the,

the set of the walking dead. I'm going to, Tim, I really like that answer. And usually I,

I would deduct points because this is clearly a story about something you did and you're,

you're blaming it on another student, but Tim, I'm going to let that slide. All right. I'll

give my own answer really quick. This is a hypothetical, but the best costume for a student to wear

is the teacher costume. That's always a classic. Johnny, how about you? What's the best costume

you've seen, not from yourself, but from a fellow student or a fellow teacher? Yeah, I had a group

of fellow teachers that were great at the, like the team Halloween dress up, uh, you know, they,

they were a group of guys who were awesome to teach with and, uh, and they started it just two

of them one year as dumb and dumber. Um, everyone remembered how awesome that was that they collaborated

on a costume that was hilarious and, and, uh, and then I think the next year they did, um, I think it

was called, I can't remember, I can't remember what the Will Ferrell figure skating movie was called

Blades of Glory maybe. Yeah, they did that. They had these awesome male figure skater outfits that

matched just like, um, just like the, uh, the actor. I can't remember his name with Will Ferrell and

that. And then a following year, we all were like, it's so cool. That's so cool. And kind of the,

the orchestrator of it says, well, okay, that fine. The, the, this is the, this is the best one, Jacob,

a whole group of teachers were different characters from anchor man and anchor man had just recently

been the bees knees. So everyone kind of knew it wasn't just these dudes and suits and one of them

had a cowboy hat and one guy was carrying a trident. You know, it was like, it was like, oh my gosh,

our teachers were all the people from anchor man. Big shout out to, uh, that group of teachers. That

was awesome, awesome show, um, straight to the pros for that. They, they get big props for,

you know, doing Halloween not too scary, but fun. Uh, always love that, that version of it. Not too

scary, but fun. Now, I wonder what, what's better if you're, when you're a teacher,

wearing something that the kids are going to connect with or going the opposite Tim direction,

where you say, I'm going to be Mr. Spock, because I have been every year for the last 30 years. And

I don't care if you know it or not, I'm Mr. Spock. I mean, do we have thoughts on this?

Hmm, hmm. Does I approve of your direction, Tim? You're, I mean, stubbornly insisting. No,

I'm Mr. Spock. No, Mr. Spock. I mean, you know, and, and if they didn't learn about how many of

those students who thought they didn't know, Mr. Spock was by the end of that day, had gotten a

lesson in Mr. Spockness. That is a fantastic point, Tim. You, you took an opportunity not just to

have a fun time and dress up. You said, no, we're not going to have any fun. I'm going to teach you

kids about Mr. Spock. That's great. Uh, sticking with our round robin approach. Dr. Johnny Lupinachi,

you can have our third and final big question of the day here on a very spooky Halloween spooky.

Uh, I was pretty simple question, Johnny. And maybe you've, you've never had this experience. But

if you have, I mean, have you ever seen a ghost at a school?

Um, I haven't. Have you, do you know of, yes, I'm going to say I have, I have definitely been in

it, taught in at least three schools that were presumed to be haunted. Um, and, you know,

not going to say like I didn't, you know, poo poo the idea. But, but, um, my beliefs, I was like,

you know, I'm not going to mess around with that. That seems like a real thing to me. And, um,

it always was elevated in this time of year. But yeah, three different schools, uh, all had,

you know, some pretty good stories. One of, uh, of old grounds keeper. Um, and then two of former

students, um, who unfortunately, you know, had passed away while attending school. Um,

and so there was kind of like rumors like the doors would open, you know, there would be,

you know, on the security cameras unexplained movement in the schools or, you know, the, the,

the lockers were all shut when the doors closed at night. And then the, you know, the early morning

crew comes in and there were certain lockers open. And, and so there were always, uh, you know,

solid evidence, nothing to like, uh, ghost buster style, like nothing, nothing to,

to focus, uh, except I will say one of the schools I do believe there is quite like an internet

cult following around like the, the hauntedness of it. Oh, um, and having taught there. It wasn't,

it wasn't like a, like, uh, like a tortured haunting. Um, just a pretty steady presence of

student testimonial of like, yeah, a door just opened and closed. They're like a whole classroom

saying like the door open and then the door closed and the teacher being like, yeah,

it's the weirdest thing ever. Uh, so, so love that stuff. Yeah, I think it's always part of, uh,

a good lore. And who knows whether it's true or not, but listen out there, but you have at least a

couple of stories too of, uh, uh, uh, you know, of spirits in the school. Yeah, I, I like school

spirit. And this is a different type of school spirit. But I think just for the, for the

camaraderie and, and the lore of your school, even, you know, if your school isn't haunted,

though home today and make up a haunting for your school, because it's good for morale. Okay,

we need a ghost story in your school. Um, I, I think we've all heard a few weird ones over the

years. Tim, have you ever encountered a ghost yourself at a school or do you know a neat legend

about one of these schools who've been at? I, I sadly know. I am, uh, well,

shows over. Thanks for not, not, not ghosting. But I will say that I, um, this past weekend,

um, my wife and I went to see the psychic sisters in a live tour who have been featured on, uh,

the TLC, the travel channel, uh, A&E. And they were talking about how they've helped solve

numerous mysteries. And in fact, they were at a hotel, um, that I actually knew about. And the one

psychic sister was scratched by a ghost that was in that hotel. And the scratch that she got on her

calf, then got infected in turn septic or sepsis. And this was all from a ghost, not in a school,

but in a hotel. So, um, I now know ghosts are real because there's no way she would have made

that story up. Tim, they don't let you on TLC if you're not totally reliable. I think that goes

without saying. Um, I mean, you know, I've woken up sometimes and been like, wow, I look at that

gaping wound in my leg. It must have been a ghost. How often do you wake up with a gaping wound

in your leg? Well, I did. I'm, you know, there's a part of that story where it's like, okay,

you were scratched by a ghost. Like, why did it become infected and turned and like, was it a

dirty ghost? I mean, did the ghost not wash its hands? The water goes right through their

hands too. So they're always, they're filthy. These poor ghosts. Anyway, I, no, I don't have school

ghost stories, but there's the best I can bring up for you Jacob. I've got one quick ghost

story related to a hotel. And this is more my dad's story than mine. I was there, but I was

sleeping in the hotel. And so my dad was there. It's a family trip and the whole family's there.

And we're all sleeping in the hotel. And my dad woke up in the middle of the night and he swore.

He could feel there was a ghost and he thought it was a bad one. Okay. He thought there,

there's a malevolent spiritual presence here in the room at this hotel with my family. But he was,

he was too tired and he went back to bed. And the next day, he tells us this, what, you thought

there was a dangerous ghost in, but you're too lazy to do anything. So that is my ghost story.

To close us out before our famous iconic 60 seconds starts, I mean, just generally,

were we at on ghosts as a podcast? Does this show believe in ghosts?

I, you know, I think potentially there's something there in that, you know, idea of occupying

both planes sometimes. And my best evidence was I was hunting one time and in the woods and

actually kind of came across this old cemetery. And my dog stopped dead in its tracks,

looked at something, hair stood up on the back of its neck and he wouldn't go forward.

I didn't see anything, but that was kind of like going, okay, what is it that he feels sees

there that it was just something, something got his, you know, he was very disturbed. And so

you know, there you go. There's, there's my sense of going, you know, my dog saw one.

I was 100% sure to him that you were going to say, and my only evidence was I went to see these

ladies from TLC and they told me a great story. They say to them, I mean, if you talk to the ghost

experts with their doctorates and ghostology, then animals are good at detecting spirits and things

like that is what they, they will tell us Johnny, where are you at on the general ghost yay or

nay situation? I'm just go with the simple yay. I like that. Tim's answer was much too long. So

that was how you really, you really balanced it out. But gentlemen, I see the kids lined up

outside the station right now with their costumes. I think they'll get the candy. I got to wrap

this one for today. But we've got time for one last iconic segment. Let's go in 60 seconds,

Dr. Tim Slucker. Can you tell me, do you have a costume this year and what might it be?

I do not have a costume this year. I'm going to, boy, I'm going to make some people say my, my wife

and I have decided that we're not doing Halloween this year. We're in a new house and there are

truly no kids in our neighborhood and our neighbors said, yeah, we don't get trick-or-treaters.

So we're just, I don't know, I guess we're boycotting Halloween.

Well, Tim, that was a massive bummer. Yeah, it was a let down for sure. And you've got the spooky

bat house. You have to do some sort of Halloween thing. Some bat. I mean, your bell free is full

this year. Yes, it is. But it's always been full. I, well, now you've put it to me, Jacob, and I've

got a little bit of time left here to maybe whip together, like maybe like a Mr. Spock costume.

Well, I think there's probably, you probably have some experience with it.

So, oh, you made me feel bad now, but come on, Johnny. Save me here, man. Yeah, Johnny, what's your

60 second Halloween costume? So I've got, I've got two, you know, I always have to have a backup

on. I actually have three of podcast panda. That's always one. Every time you've got enough for

Tim, Debarro of Halloween. Yeah, Tim, I can mail you podcast panda sometime. But no, one of my

favorites that just requires that I convince a group of people going out with me to partake.

And my kids poo poo the idea every year, but I have the costume ready where I could be grew and

they can be minions. That's one of my favorites. Also, you know, I did that earlier this week in

the classroom, a couple of like a handful of students were minions and I was grew. But, you know,

we do pretty intense trick or treating by us. We hit a couple of different big heavy hit neighborhoods

that are known for giving out the good candies, the full size candy bars. But to hit all those

neighborhoods in a timely manner when it's generally pretty cold, we put to use a golf cart.

And I go as trustee old Mario and it's Mario cart time. And we barrel through as Mario cart.

You so, you know, it's going to be one of those two. I'm leaning towards Mario cart tonight. So

Well, I think on average, we have come together as one medium effort. Paul Ween

between Tim and I not doing anything in Johnny going out with nine different costumes.

A custom golf cart and throwing turtle shells at random passerby's. So that is great. I think

yeah. Overall, the audience is left with a great impression that this is going to be a good

Halloween and that we did a great job on the first ever Busted Fetzles bruises choice Halloween

special. Dr. Tim Slacker, Dr. Johnny Lupinachi. Thank you so much for coming on your own show.

And Tim, I think there's time for one special Halloween quote.

Now it's time for your moment of sin.

So yes, they depend on our obedience. When we withdraw it, their power disappears.

It's important to know that.

Well, thanks for listening to this spooky episode of producer choice. And remember to grab great

podcasts packed full with more Busted Pencils content on Apple Podcasts Spotify. Or of course,

you can always head over to the civic media website or find us at BustedPensils.com.

Hey, and don't you dare be late for home or my Monday and be sure to grab next week's class

in session sometime midweek. And if you don't already know, well, then you're going to love this

folks because you could catch Busted Pencils broadcast at 3 p.m. Central time across all the civic

media network stations on Saturday for one hour of your favorite blue collar scholars. Tim and Johnny

are keeping Busted Pencils.