read this

I was doing a search on the internet and came across this article. Is this for real - it seems so. Email, call, write, whatever-this is outragous

http://www.modbee.com/metro/story/0,1113,269618,00.html

Mock awards hurt students, parents say
By SUZANNE HURT
BEE STAFF WRITER
(Published: Friday, May 25, 2001)
   GUSTINE — At least one family is fuming over an “awards” banquet where Gustine Middle School teachers publicly ridiculed poor performers — including learning disabled students.
   Wednesday night, teachers gave about 30 students certificates for such things as lying, failing to turn in homework, trying to con teachers, being chronically late and getting D’s.
   The coordinator of a class for students with learning disabilities gave her students “high school preparedness kits” containing Q-tips to clean out their ears so they can pay attention and Kleenex for high school teachers who may feel like crying if the students do not learn.
   Michael and Danielle Berta were “livid” after their daughter, Mary, and nine boys in a class for slower learners were given the kits in front of about 200 students, parents and teachers. The family wants a public apology.
   “These kids were humiliated. How am I supposed to get my daughter back in school tomorrow feeling good about herself?” Michael Berta, 42, said Thursday. “The minute we got outside (the banquet hall), she started bawling. She actually started using the damn Kleenex they gave her in the kit to dry her eyes with.”
   The banquet was held to recognize eighth-graders who excelled in academics and sports. During the night, 10 teachers singled out students who have not done as well.
   The Bertas were so concerned about their daughter and the reactions of other offended students that they kept 13-year-old Mary and brother Devon, 9, home Thursday. Michael Berta brought their concerns to Principal Dennis Shaw and Gustine Unified School District Superintendent Ralph Wilson.
   “You’ve got nine boys who were taken up in front of their peers and humiliated by their teachers in a small farming community. You could have real trouble on your hands,” Michael Berta said. “You could visually see some of these children were angry. These are the days of Columbine (High School). This is not a funny matter.”
   Awards are nothing new
   The practice has been a banquet tradition for 10 years, Shaw said.
   “It’s something we feel is all in good fun and, we hope, in good taste,” he said. “Last night was what we thought was a nice evening.”
   The Bertas moved from San Jose in October, hoping to give their children a better life in a small town, Danielle Berta said.
   No other parents or children have complained, he said.
   Mary Berta said she tried to keep a “straight face” when she was called up before the crowd.
   “I didn’t want to be a sore loser. I just got up there and did what I had to do,” she said. “It kind of made me feel embarrassed. I’m the one who’s always prepared for all my classes.”
   Michael Berta asked parents and students if they understood what was going on.
   “One student said, ‘Yes, they’re humiliating us. They always humiliate us.’” he said. “If this is what happens at the end of the year, what’s been happening during the year?”
   One boy left after his fourth “award,” but the teachers had more for him, Berta said. He later saw the youth rip up the certificates in the parking lot.
   Excuses are fodder for jokes
   While learning-disabled students stood before the crowd, their teacher, Angie Parodi, showed comic strips on an overhead projector. One showed a student with no head who said his mind wandered for a moment and asked a teacher to repeat the question.
   Another teacher gave a boy a “silver-tongued devil” certificate for always having a story about not turning in homework, Michael Berta said.
   A special reading class teacher awarded a girl for always being the last one to finish reading. Others gave awards to students who made “alibis and excuses — like a student who has a reason why he’s late every day,” Shaw said.
   Parodi and Wilson did not return phone calls.
   The Bertas, who help their daughter with schoolwork daily, fear that she will endure more ridicule or be called retarded. She is not. She has trouble reading and writing, which affects comprehension, they said.
   “We’re caring, loving parents who are concerned and don’t want our child being treated like an idiot,” Danielle Berta said.
   Shaw said he apologized to Michael Berta “for any damage or hurt that might have been caused.”
   The Bertas want the teachers to apologize publicly — perhaps at graduation June 7, Michael Berta said.
   “What are they teaching our children? They showed every bad human emotion last night they possibly could. I have lost confidence in any of these teachers, period.”
   Bee staff writer Suzanne Hurt can be reached
578-2321 or [email protected]