Middle school player benched for a game for saying ‘I love you’ in native language

Middle school player benched for a game for saying ‘I love you’ in native language

As reported by the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Associated Press and Green Bay NBC affiliate WGBA, among other sources, Sacred Heart seventh-grader Miranda Washinawatok was disciplined in class in front of her peers and then held out of a January basketball game because she had the temerity to tell two of her classmates "I love you" in the language native to the Menominee tribe, of which the Washinawatoks are a part.

When Washinawatok used the phrase in a class to two of her friends who she had taught it to, one of her teachers -- Julie Gurta -- reportedly threw her hands down on her table angrily and said that Washinawatok would not be allowed to speak in the Menominee language because doing so would keep the teacher from knowing what she was saying.

"She sort of threw her hands down on her desk and said don't be talking like that," Washinawatok told WGBA of her teacher's reaction to the Menominee language. "How would you like it if I started talking Polish?"

The point, of course, is that Washinawatok wouldn't stop her teacher from speaking in Polish if it didn't distract from class. Similarly, Washinawatok's mother, Tanaes Washinawatok, is lobbying for Gurta to be fired after a letter that allegedly served as an apology from Gurta instead read more as an accusation of Miranda Washinawatok's guilt.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/middle-school-girls-hoops-player-benched-game-saying-155532292.html;_ylt=ApyOieoc68WpE7X2z2dQj4vsYcp_;_ylu=X3oDMTRudW5uczhiBGNjb2RlA3ZzaGFyZWFnMgRtaXQDRmVhdHVyZWQgQmxvZ3MgQ09SRQRwa2cDNDQ2ZWExMTktMzk4Yi0zOGQwLTkzMGYtYzdjZDJkMzFhODJkBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJMaXN0TWl4ZWRMUENBBHZlcgM5N2M1OTg5MC02M2U3LTExZTEtYmE1ZC03MWVlZDFmZDZiZDc-;_ylg=X3oDMTNhMTZnNmRoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDMDA4OGM1YmMtMzAxYS0zYTMxLWJlZmEtYjRiOTYwMTdmZTY2BHBzdGNhdANtbGJ8YmlnbGVhZ3Vlc3RldwRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2UEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3