Apparently, the good old-fashioned superlatives of “most likely to become president” and “most likely to be high school sweethearts” are over.
Because this week, teachers at a Channelview junior high school thought it was fine to give a 13-year-old girl a “mock award” for “most likely to become a terrorist.”
Yes, again, teachers at Anthony Aguirre Junior High actually put their stamp of approval on this “award” given to a seventh-grade Hispanic girl — apparently as a joke, because terrorism is something to laugh about.
The seventh grader, Lizeth Villanueva, told KHOU that teachers handed out the awards to the kids while chuckling during a mock ceremony this week.
“She said that some people might get offended, but she doesn’t really care about our feelings,” Villanueva said of the teacher. “She was laughing about it.”
Villanueva’s mom, Ena Hernandez, told the news station that her daughter was in advanced academic programs and has never had a discipline problem. Since receiving the certificate, Villanueva has not returned to school.
The principal apologized during an in-person meeting at the school, but the mom and daughter called for the teachers involved to be fired. Channelview ISD said in a statement that the teachers are being “disciplined” and would not confirm their identities. KHOU blurred out the teacher’s signature on the certificate.
“I read it twice. I’m like, ‘What is this!'” Hernandez told KHOU.
The school district issued the following statement:
“The Channelview ISD Administration would like to apologize for the insensitive and offensive fake mock awards that were given to students in a classroom. Channelview ISD would like to assure all students, parents and community members that these award statements and ideals are not representative of the district’s vision, mission and educational goals for our students.
“The teachers involved in this matter have been disciplined according to district policy and the incident is still under investigation.”
This article appears in Summer Guide 2017.
