AUBURN — Jim Miller, the principal of Edward Little High School, tried talking his boss out of entering his name.

“I kept saying, ‘No. No. No. No,'” Miller said. He didn’t want the attention that a contest might draw. But on Saturday, as he spent the afternoon shopping for New England Patriots T-shirts with his wife, Carol, Miller conceded that it worked out pretty well.

On Sunday, the couple plans to attend an invitation-only send-off party for the Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. And next Sunday — when the rest of us stretch onto couches to watch the Pats vie for their fourth Super Bowl win — the Millers will be watching the game live in Indianapolis.

They’ll be guests of the team.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Miller, a lifelong Pats fan. “I’m still waiting for the shoe to drop that says, ‘No. This isn’t real.'”

The contest is called “Super Bowl for Super People.”

It’s a sweepstakes run by the Patriots’ Charitable Foundation, which took online entries from around New England. Contestants had to be public servants — firefighters, teachers, police officers, nurses or members of the military — and they had to be nominated by their bosses.

During a two-day period, 4,000 names were entered, according to a team release. Ten winners were selected at random. Miller was the only winner from Maine.

“He’s a humble man,” said Auburn Superintendent Katy Grondin, who nominated Miller at the suggestion of a teacher in the school. He tried talking her out of it.

“It might be one-in-a-million, but let’s go for it,'” she told him.

She submitted his name Wednesday.

“He lives at Edward Little High School,” she said. “He gives 110 percent. You call him and he’s there.”

News of his selection came Friday morning.

“Throughout the season, we celebrated volunteerism in my sweetheart’s honor,” Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft said in a prepared statement. “Today, we honor 10 men and women who represent so many others in the field of public service and thank them for their selfless service to our New England communities.

“We are proud to honor these 10 individuals with this ‘Super Bowl for Super People’ sweepstakes. We have heard countless examples of outstanding service through our ‘Celebrate Volunteerism’ campaign and we are happy to extend the campaign with the recognition of these deserving individuals.”

The details already send Miller reeling.

On Super Bowl Sunday morning, he and his wife will meet with the other winners at Gillette Stadium, catch a ride to a nearby airport and board a chartered plane bound for Indianapolis.

“We’ve got a tailgate party and the game and then a post-game party afterward,” Miller said.

The longtime administrator — he’s spent 36 years with the School Department, 21 as EL’s principal — is unaccustomed to VIP treatment.

“Just the aura of the game will be new,” he said. “The game might be anti-climactic after the travel and the stadium and all the hype. You get to see it in person. I think Madonna is the half-time show.”

Before they fly home late next Sunday, they plan to shoot lots of souvenir photos.

“I’ve got a camera and my wife’s got a camera and we’ll just keep taking pictures from the time we get going,” he said.

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