Reporters notebook: Auburn's iPad2 story makes Jay Leno

Auburn's iPad 2 story not only made top news in Maine and the nation, it was featured on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

Recently, Leno said he read that "kids in Maine are going high tech. Kids in kindergarten are being given iPads. Some of these kids are so tech savvy."

He played a CNN report that featured Maine's WGME video of Auburn's Washburn Elementary School kindergartners playing with iPads.

"I drew a kitty cat," one girl said. "I'm trying to make words," a boy said. It then showed a girl in a pink shirt saying: "I did it. I hacked into the Pentagon," she said, showing her iPad screen that said, "Pentagon access granted."

As she touched yes on "Upload to WikiLeaks," the girl said, "I'm sending it to WikiLeaks."

The audience laughed and applauded, Leno said, "Wow. Tech-savvy kids."

Washburn Principal Holly Couturier said Friday the the girl in the pink top is not a Washburn student, her appearance was the creation of the show. Couturier thought the episode was cute and funny.

"We made Jay Leno's monologue, that's impressive!" she said. "It was a spoof, but in a positive light."

— Bonnie Washuk

To watch:?

http://www.slashcontrol.com/free-tv-shows/the-tonight-show-with-jay-leno/2415726686-kindergarten-ipads

School boss now a taxpayer

On the night that the Lewiston School Committee passed a school budget (the budget does not increase property taxes), Superintendent Bill Webster made a personal announcement.

He closed on his home that day. "I'm a Lewiston taxpayer," he said with a grin.

What timing.

The School Committee did not make it a job requirement that he live in Lewiston. He and his wife, Molly, took time to get to know Lewiston "before deciding this was indeed the place we wanted to live," Webster said.? Both were impressed with the city's vitality. Webster has joined the Androscoggin Chorale.

Webster said he, his wife and daughters are excited about their new, one-level? Lewiston home, "but I have a very long 'honey-do' list from Molly," he said. That list includes finishing the basement, putting in a garden, building an outdoor fireplace.

Webster became Lewiston superintendent Jan. 1 after serving as school superintendent in Ellsworth. He still owns a home in Ellsworth. "Want to buy it?" he asked.?

— Bonnie Washuk

View the original article here