Mock awards stir anger in Channelview

Channelview ISD roiled as students get fake ‘honors’

Channelview ISD is roiled and a teacher is disciplined after mock awards given in a class that included one seventh-grader being named “most likely to be a terrorist.”

A Channelview teacher has been disciplined after presenting a seventh-grade student a mock award that read “most likely to be a terrorist,” a district official said Friday.

Lizeth Villanueva told reporters that the teacher at Anthony Aguirre Junior High School presented her with the certificate as part of a mock awards ceremony on Tuesday, one day after a terrorist attack in Manchester, England, killed 22 people and wounded dozens more.

Other students were given awards for “most likely to cry for every little thing,” “most likely to become homeless,” and “most likely to blend in with white people,” according to other media reports.

“I was shocked,” Lizeth told KPRC-TV. “(The teacher) said, ‘Most likely to become a terrorist,’ and she said my name, and she gave me this.”

Mark Kramer, a spokesman for Channelview Independent School District, confirmed the incident took place and apologized 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,” Kramer said. “The teachers involved in this matter have been disciplined according to district policy and the incident is

still under investigation.”

He declined to provide any additional details about disciplinary action the school had taken. The district had been flooded with calls and comments about the incident on its Facebook page, he said.

“We’ve received lots of comments; we’re keeping track of all of those,” he said.

‘Reprehensible action’

The mock ceremony occurred during the student’s AVID class, an advanced course meant to prepare younger students for college.

AVID officials said the program’s logo had been used without permission and that the teacher responsible was not an AVID employee. They discussed the incident with Channelview ISD’s superintendent.

“This is a reprehensible action of a single teacher that does not in any way reflect the AVID values, or the values of the thousands of AVID teachers across the U.S. who impact our students daily,” AVID CEO Sandy Husk said in an email.

Lizeth’s mother, Ena Hernandez, told KHOUTV that the award was especially upsetting coming the day after the Manchester bombing.

“It doesn’t look good at all, especially coming from a teacher, a grown-up woman,” Hernandez said. “It doesn’t look good because (of ) everything that’s going on right now.”

As word of the incident spread on Facebook and Twitter, outraged users of social media flooded Channelview ISD and AVID with angry messages.

“Mock awards? I find no humor in this at all,” one Facebook user wrote. “I feel sorry for, not only this 7th grader, but for all of the students taught by this teacher.”

Social media apology

Anthony Aguirre Junior High’s administration took to social media to apologize, saying in a tweet that the awards did not reflect the school’s mission or values and that an investigation would look into the incident. By Friday afternoon, however, its Facebook page was not available.

Reached by phone, a representative from the northeast branch of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents Channelview ISD teachers, declined to comment.

The suburban school district is located off Interstate 10, about 25 miles east of downtown Houston.