School district apologizes after teacher at the Bailly Preparatory Academy gives 11-year-old trophy meant as a joke.
A school district in Indiana has apologized after a special education teacher handed a « most annoying male » award to an 11-year-old pupil with autism.
The teacher at the Bailly Preparatory Academy in Gary gave the child the trophy at an annual end-of-year awards luncheon for fellow fifth graders on May 23.
A reported by the Times of Northwest Indiana, the award was given to the boy in front of the other students, parents, and the school’s principle Carlita Royal.
« We were blindsided. We just weren’t expecting it, » the boy’s father, Rick Castejon, told the Times. « As a principal or teacher, you should never let this happen to any student. »
The father said he tried to leave the trophy behind on the table before the teacher, who considered the trophy a joke, stopped him and told him not to forget it.
