There is some serious yearbook controversy brewing in Arizona. A Muslim student was given the "most likely to bomb the United States" yearbook superlative. On Monday night the Sonoran Science Academy issued an apology to the parents.
Bree Brown's 11-year-old daughter showed Bree the post over the weekend. Her daughter was disturbed by it.
“I looked down and read, most likely to bomb the U.S. and I just sat there for a second and thought, no way. This is not happening,” Bree Brown said.
Bree's husband Kian added, "I thought it was a joke. I didn't believe it at first."
How could something like this have possibly made it to the printer press? The parents wondered why school administration did not step in and keep this from happening.
“It was missed. There’s a faculty advisor in charge of the yearbook. They did not catch it,” Matthew Benson, a Sonoran Science Academy spokesman stated.
This wasn't the only questionable posts in the yearbook. These were part of a survey school staff gave to the students.
The questions ranged from "favorite memory..." to "voted most likely to..."
Every year there are these types of questions in every yearbook. They are somewhat of a rite of passage.
There was no official vote in the post about the Muslim student. An 8th grader wrote in the answer "most likely to bomb the U.S."
Here is the statement from Principal Deb Hofmeier:
“On Friday night, I became aware of an inappropriate entry included with the 2017-18 yearbook in which a student self-designated they were ‘Voted Most Likely to Bomb the U.S.’ To be clear, there was no class vote. Each student self-selected a superlative for himself or herself. After speaking with the student and the student’s parents, it is apparent the comment was a misguided attempt at humor. There was absolutely no malicious intent on the part of the student. Regardless, our entire administrative team takes this seriously. The comment should have been caught and removed during the editing process before the yearbook was published. Our school is investigating how this incident occurred, and has already taken disciplinary action against the faculty adviser in charge of the yearbook. Going forward, we will be instituting a more stringent review process to ensure this cannot happen again. In the meantime, we have reached out to each of our Sonoran Science Academy-Peoria families to express our deep regret regarding this incident. We are also collecting yearbooks from students who had already received them, and will have a new, edited batch printed and distributed at no additional charge to families. On behalf of Sonoran Science Academy-Peoria, I apologize for any inconvenience and for the larger situation, which does not accurately reflect our students, school mission or the values we share with our families and community.”
It is unfathomable that this type of remark made it to press for a yearbook. This school should be ashamed of their actions and there is no way to reverse the damage that was done by it.
Check out some of the reactions from Twitter:
In Arizona, a Muslim student's yearbook named him “Most likely to bomb the U.S.”
Other superlatives included “Most likely to be seen on COPS” & “Best Meth”
— K.M. (@kylepmara) May 16, 2018
See the scrap we're teaching our kids? Soon these clueless dumbasses will be voters.......Muslim student voted 'Most Likely to Bomb the US' in yearbookhttps://t.co/X0EW3xvh8d
Shared from my Google feed
— Koye Barry (@Earthwebz) May 16, 2018
“Most likely to bomb the U.S.” – One student awards himself a horrifying superlative that has now sparked outrages among classmates and parents. @LawrenceBJones3 reacts pic.twitter.com/2j0wmAdjJM
— Fox & Friends First (@FoxFriendsFirst) May 16, 2018
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