Pennywise makes an appearance

On Wednesday of this week, as my class was coming back inside from recess, several of my girls were telling me that somebody had seen a clown outside, and this clown had killed a kid. My mind immediately flashed back to the Stephen King story "It," but I thought surely no eight-year-old kid would have read that book or even have seen that very scary movie.
On Thursday, before any of the teacher realized what was going on, a huge group of third graders (about 50 or 60) was out in the far corner of the soccer field where there is a sewer grate. I went out to the field and chased them all back onto the playground, only to hear about twenty confirmations that there was a killer clown living down in the sewer.
So now, not only has somebody clearly been watching IT and spreading the story around, but I also get first hand proof that my kids are so brilliant that instead of running FROM a would-be killer clown, they would actually swarm CLOSER to it. (Have I told you that I do NOT work at a Vanguard school?)
Some of the students seem genuinely terrified, but the school counselor has been talking about it with them, trying to calm their fears. I can only hope that next week, nobody comes to school talking about a red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury that can drive by itself. . .