And the Award for Class Catastrophe Goes To......

Award to 8 Year Old

When elementary school students have their annual honors and awards day most of them expect to receive awards noting their academic achievements, not an award for how they find ways around being academically inclined.  However, for one 8-year-old student in Tuscon, Arizona her award was a "catastrophe" both literally and figuratively.  Upon seeing the award given to her daughter the girls mother became furious and accused the teacher of bullying her child. 

According to reports, "8-year-old Cassandra Garcia was reportedly given the "catastrophe award" for being the "one student with the most excuses for not having their homework done" in front of her entire third grade class at Desert Springs Academy."  The girls mother went on to tell reporters that all of the students laughed at her daughter when the award was announced.  While the classroom teacher insists that the award was given in good fun and as a joke to the young girl her mother insists it was cruel and a bullying tactic. 

Teachers should remember that they have a very important responsibility, not just to ensure that our children are learning but also to encourage that learning both inside and outside of the classroom.  If Cassandra was not completing her homework, or did not have it with her on several occasions there are steps the teacher could have taken to avoid this "catastrophe". Staying in touch with your classroom parents is very important, especially while students are young and should have been a priority for this particular teacher. Bad judgement calls such as this can do more harm than good, especially to a child's self esteem and even a teachers future career. 

To read more about this particular story please go to: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/30/mom-furious-after-teacher-gives-8-year-old-daughter-catastrophe-award/#ixzz1wMqSrIQN