I love you. Hello. Thank you. Hardly the sort of words to elicit the wrath of an entire school board, but they did just that at a middle school in Wisconsin.
Miranda Washinawatok -- a 12-year-old student at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Shawno, Wisconsin, a small town just south of an Indian Reservation -- was reprimanded for speaking these words in her native tongue, Menominee.
Teacher Julie Gurta reportedly slammed her hands down on the desk and told Miranda she wasn’t supposed to be speaking Menominee because how would she know if Miranda was saying something bad. She then said, How would you like it if I spoke Polish and you didn’t understand?
The whole exchange escalated when Miranda claimed she was singled out and benched during a school basketball game for having "attitude issues.”
“I was disappointed the faculty wouldn’t give me clear answers and kept passing the blame back and forth,” said Miranda's mom, Tanaes Washinawatok.
Cue a vow to work on cultural sensitivity by school and Diocese of Green Bay officials, which claims natives have had a raw deal for too long. As for Gurta... Instead of a straight apology, Miranda's mom received a letter justifying the teacher's actions.
“In an academic setting," she wrote, "a student must be respectful of all of the other students — language and behaviour that creates a possibility of elitism, or simply excludes other students, can create or increase racial and cultural tensions ... Unfortunately, the actions of your daughter were not brought to your attention as quickly as they should have been, and for this I apologize.”
Tanaes was not impressed, and hopes the school will fire Gurta.
Is the teacher guilty of preaching intolerance, or do you agree that language "creates a possibility of elitism" and exclusion?
It's always refreshing to hear about a Hollywood starlet who comes across as more human than plastic. Well, one such leading lady is Cate Blanchett (ok, so she's Aussie, but you get my drift.)
“I’m not sitting on a soapbox telling women what they should and shouldn’t do,” the Elizabeth actress told Fashion ETC. “I just know what works for me. I’d be too frightened about what [plastic surgery] means long-term. Looking at women in their '20s doing this stuff, in the end all you see is the work. It doesn’t fill me with admiration; it fills me with pity.”
Saying that, it's easy to say when you essentially have an angel's complexion. The pale beauty credits her flawless skin to a Japanese range, SK-II, whose products she's been using for forever. Proof's in the pudding... (It also doesn't hurt that she’s the face of the company).
Back in 2008 she set up her own $250 skincare kit. But some of her other choice products are a little less orthodox: oxygen facials, emu oil, Paw Paw Ointment and daily doses of sunscreen.
Clearly, the Australian sun takes no prisoners, so Cate must be doing something right.
What skincare products do you swear by? When it comes to Botox and other procedures, would you? Turns out, our very own Yummies are polarized on the subject, from the Yes, bring it on to the No, chance in hell...
I must admit I'm not looking forward to reliving my math nightmares vicariously via my son's homework. It was gruelling enough the first time around, thanks.
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The virtual tutors were the brainwave of the Ministry of Education. Heck, Premier Dalton McGuinty even took the time to blog about it.
There's no need to break out in hives at the sight of your son or daughter's algebra homework. Cue: bookmark now. All you need to do is register for FREE as a guest user to access Homework Help.
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