Fact or Fiction: Potter Edition

Ressa Crubaugh, Reporter

Friendly French teacher James Potter has certainly had an interesting life. However, students are not always getting the facts right about him. After years of teaching at U-High, a few rumors need some clarification.

In order to do this, we sat down with Mr. Potter to set things straight.

Fact: “Hasn’t he spent a lot of time in Japan?” junior French student Harris Porter questions.

This is true. Mr. Potter spent ten years in Japan working mainly with high school and college students.

“I went to Japan originally because I knew a lot of Japanese students from my college days.” Potter said. “[I] landed a job in Nagoya, and was originally going to stay for two years, and ended up staying for ten.”

Japan was also where Potter discovered his love for teaching.

“Originally, I had thought against going into education,” Potter said. “But I ended up being in Japan where most of my work was school-related, at which point in time I saw how much I enjoyed working with high school-aged students.”

Fact:
“I heard that he had an ancestor who was in the Civil War,” junior Chidambara Anagani said.

Potter’s great-grandfather served on the Confederate side of the war.

“My Great-Grandfather on my mother’s side was in the Civil War band, and played the trumpet when he was just fourteen years old.”

Fact: “Doesn’t he play the piano?” questions junior Dalton Bates.

Potter has played the piano for most of his life, and continues to do so.

“When I was young I wanted to start playing, and I started when I was just eight years old,” Potter said. “I continued taking piano lessons until I was a senior in high school.”

Fiction: “I heard he was a Japanese hand model,” junior French student Liam Vaughn said.

This rumor gets part of the story correct.

“I never was a hand model,” Potter assures. “I did a couple of modeling gigs for a magazine, but it was for men’s suits.”

Potter came across the job by complete chance, it seems.

“I was in a men’s clothing store, and the manager of the store approached me and asked me if I would be interested in doing that for him,” Potter said. “I’m not one to back down from a challenge.”