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'Ghetto' Awards Given to Middle School Students Is a Horrible 'Joke'

Teachers at Sulphur Springs Middle School gave out the "Ghetto Classroom" awards to students and parents were outraged when their children brought home the certificates.

What would you do if your young child brought home a certificate that said, "The Ghetto Classroom Awards"? One parent, Debra Jose, said her grandson, a student at the Sulphur Springs Middle School in Texas, was given a "ghetto" award by two teachers and it left her floored. 
"I had to take a second look. I was like, really? How could a teacher put this on there? ... Did she just say ghetto on a certificate that she was giving my grandson?” Jose said, KLTV.com reports.
The district's superintendent, Michael Lamb, said he is shocked by the incident. "Truly, it goes in layers... You kind of ask yourself, had anything else been used, the 'teacher's name' award, would it start to seem more acceptable."
According to the certificate, this was the eighth year of the "ghetto" awards. Lamb said one of the teachers who gave them out, Mrs. Garner, has done the same outrageous act in a previous district.
"It's my understanding the same award was given last year to up to 60 kids," explained Lamb to KLTV. 
For Jose, the award brought back bad memories of childhood. "Back in the day, when I was growing up, they segregated us. They put us in a part where they said we were 'ghetto.' If she knew what ghetto meant, she would have never approached that, because, being an African-American, we were always thrown that.”
The school is currently investigating the so-called celebration. 

Follow Natelege Whaley on Twitter: @Natelege_

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(Photo: Edgar Solis/CBS 11 News)

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