13-Year-Old Girl Named 'Most Likely to Become Terrorist' in School 'Ceremony'
Several teachers in Texas are in hot water after a 13-year-old student was given a fake award naming her "most likely to become a terrorist." The "award" was meant to poke fun but was considered ill-timed as it was held a day after the terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.
The activity was part of a mock end-of-the-year awards ceremony at Lance Cpl. Anthony Aguirre Jr. High School. The "future terrorist award" was given to Lizbeth Villanueva, a seventh grader who had been in the school's academic honors program for two years with no disciplinary record.
Other awards given were "Most likely to become homeless in Guatemala" to a boy who had been teased as a "little homeless Indian" and "Most likely to cry about every little thing" to an emotional student. A black girl named Sydney Caesar was given the "Most likely to blend in with white people" award.
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The fake certificates were handed by class adviser Stacy Lockett. There were four teachers present during the mock ceremony. "For that child to either be called a terrorist or she's not black enough, basically now the students are taking that and that's her label for the rest of the school year," Caesar's mother Latonya Robinson said.
Channelview Independent School District (ISD) spokesman Mark Kramer described the incident as a "poor attempt to poke fun" and an activity that "was not well thought out." The "awards" were given at the last day of the school year. He also announced that Lockett had been suspended until the end of the year.
The students who received the "awards" were enrolled in AVID, a college preparatory class. The fake certificates carried the AVID seal, prompting the ISD to release a statement disowning the activity. "At no time was the AVID program itself involved in this unfortunate incident," it said.
