Texas teachers give student 'most likely to become a terrorist' award

A number of teachers are facing disciplinary action at a school in Houston, Texas, after naming a student "most likely to become a terrorist."

Lizeth Villanueva, 13, was attending an awards ceremony at Anthony Aguirre Junior High in Channelview when the received the certificate which had been signed by a member of staff.

She said that the teacher who signed it handed out certificates to a number of students while other teachers watched and laughed.

"She said that some people might get offended, but she doesn't really care about our feelings," Lizeth said. "She was laughing about it. They just found it as a joke."

Her mum, Ena Hernandez was angry at the whole incident: "I read it twice. I'm like, 'What is this?!'

"It doesn't look good at all, especially coming from a teacher," Hernandez said. "It doesn't look good because everything that's going on right now."

The principal of the school apologised to the family in a private meeting. The district would not confirm the names of any teachers because it's a personnel matter, but a spokesperson says those involved are being disciplined in accordance with policy.

Still happy at how things have panned out, Lizeth said she would like to see the teachers involved "Get fired, at least, or something."

Channelview Independent School District released this statement: "The Channelview ISD Administration would like to apologize for the insensitive and offensive fake mock awards that were given to students in a classroom.

"Channelview ISD would like to assure all students, parents and community members that these award statements and ideals are not representative of the district's vision, mission and educational goals for our students.

"The teachers involved in this matter have been disciplined according to district policy and the incident is still under investigation."