Parents’ anger led to a statement of apology by a Wyoming school district after a multiple-choice online quiz included “shooting at Trump” as a possible answer that was administered to high school students.
The quiz was administered at Jackson Hole High School by English teacher Carin Aufderheide, reports the Jackson Hole News&Guide. The teacher gave her class a quiz Thursday on George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm. The quiz question read:
Napoleon has the gun fired for a new occasion. What is the new occasion?
- He was shooting at Trump
- His birthday
- For completion of the windmill
- To scare off the attackers of Animal Farm.
According to the news report, junior Rylee McCollum took a screenshot of the question and showed it to his father, Jim McCollum, who was angered by the question.
“It’s about respect for the office more than anything,” McCollum said. “That’s enough of this. No way.”
McCollum reportedly voted for Trump in the 2016 election, though he admits he “cringes at some of the things he says.”
“It was so inappropriate to show a name of a sitting president in that question,” McCollum said. “To me, that is so wrong in light of the situation in our country and the divisiveness and all.”
TCSD #1 administration learned late yesterday that a quiz was administered to a class of high school students that…
Posted by Teton County School District on Friday, October 6, 2017
Teton County School District No. 1 released the following statement Friday:
TCSD #1 administration learned late yesterday that a quiz was administered to a class of high school students that contained an inappropriate answer to a multiple choice question. Administration is investigating this incident and verifying the information we have received.
TCSD #1 takes seriously threats of any kind, regardless of the intent. We apologize to the students, families and community for this incident and will be addressing the issue with personnel.
Other parents were similarly angered by the quiz question, Jackson Hole News&Guide reports.
“To see that in my son’s class …” McCollum said. “This is not OK.”
He added that “liberal bias” has seeped into other classes at Jackson Hole High School – of which he is also an alumnus.
“Rylee is very patriotic, very supportive of our military and of our country,” McCollum said, adding that his son said, “Dad, they crapped on everything I believe in.”
McCollum said that his son “loves” Aufderheide as a teacher, though her political beliefs are different from his own.
“He thinks she’s a terrific person, a nice person,” the parent said. “He was really upset that she would do that. He was really disappointed.”
McCollum said he hopes the teacher learns something from this incident.
“I’m not looking to get rid of anyone’s position,” he said. “Heck, I’ve done and said enough dumb things throughout my life.”
Citing the shooting massacre in Las Vegas last Sunday, McCollum said, “The Las Vegas thing still weighs on us. We are absolutely devastated. Just like any other American, we are devastated by what happened.”
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