The mother of an 8-year-old Arizona girl who was presented with a "Catastrophe Award" for apparently having the most excuses for not having homework believes her child was humiliated by her teacher.

Christina Valdez said her daughter, Cassandra Garcia, came home one day from class at Desert Springs Academy in Tucson, Ariz., with the paper award.

The document, which looks like a colorful card, contained the following message: "You're Tops! Catastrophe Award. Awarded to Cassandra Garcia. For Most Excuses for Not Having Homework."

The teacher signed the card "Ms. Plowman," added the date - May 18, 2012 - and even included a smiley face.

The teacher announced the award in front of the entire class, and the other students laughed at her daughter, Valdez said in a Thursday interview with ABC TV affiliate KGUN-TV in Tucson.

When she contacted the school to complain, the principal "blew me off," Valdez added. "She said it was a joke that was played and that the teachers joke around with the children."

But Valdez told KGUN that she didn't find any of it funny.

"I think it's cruel and no child should be given an award like this. It's disturbing," she said, adding that she was not aware her daughter had a problem with homework, and that the girl had been enrolled in an after-school homework assistance program.

Desert Springs Academy's principal declined to comment to a KGUN reporter, the affiliate reported.

I didn't make up excuses. I just told them I knew the material and tests and quizzes would prove it so why should I waste my time when I can do something else that teaches me new things?

They never had an answer just dutifully gave me zero's for not doing busy work. **** assholes.

No answer is needed. You didn't do the assignment, so what grade should you have gotten? Zero sounds right to me. Maybe negative points for smugness.

No answer is needed. You didn't do the assignment, so what grade should you have gotten? Zero sounds right to me. Maybe negative points for smugness.

In high school and middle school that's completely reasonable. Just because a kid claims they "know the material" and don't need to do the homework doesn't make it so. If regular kids see high achievers getting away with this, they'll do the same thing and likely parents will too, followed by lawyers.

The way around this is to have better gifted programs (and gifted programs, not special help for kids with problems should be the priority) where the best performers and the large bulk of the regular students aren't being directly compared.

Hey going to hold me hostage I'm going be as **** smug as I want - the least they can do with the people they kidnap is to let them live their own lives once they are free ranged.

I claimed and then I backed it up with 98%+ quiz and test scores done in half the time than the rest of the class. I knew more about physics than my physics teacher!

1) You were never kidnapped. If you're over 16 (or whatever in your state) you're there by choice. If you're under 16, you're there by your parent's choice.
2) The teacher's requirements were clear. You chose not to follow them. Whether you like the instructions or not is irrelevant.
3) If you chose not to follow clear requirements, you need to deal with your chosen consequences. You don't "deserve" a different grade on a required assignment because you did well on another assignment. This sort of behavior always bugs me. It's like a speeder that gets pulled over and then goes to court to explain why the posted speed limit should have been higher. You knew what it was, and chose not to follow it. Pay your ticket like a man. If you're going to break the rules, at least be man enough to own it.
4) Yes, you can be as smug as you want. How far did it get you in class?

That view, combined with public school systems being either unwilling or unable to allocate significant resources towards exceptional and gifted students, instead of holding them back at the mercy of the more average student's ability to learn comprises about 3/5 of what is wrong with our system.

Homework doesn't hold anybody back. It doesn't matter if you "know the material." Homework teaches you how to focus and buckle down and do your freakin' job. If you can't do it in gradeschool, you're certainly not going to be able to do it in University when you don't have a professor breathing down your neck and can do whatever you want. But then you're going to need it. Homework teaches good habits early. It's not something new, and it's not something that the best schools (public or private) avoid. It encourages people to learn personal responsibility, and I would think that's something someone like Elmarnieh would appreciate.

As for the rest, yes, an adequate "gifted program" is a very good idea, but it certainly wouldn't lighten their work load, if done right. They'd still have homework, but they'd need it to learn the more difficult subject material.

And yes, schools can go overboard with homework. They forget kids need to also be kids, they're not full time students at all hours of the day.

Siting down and doing something you already know how to do to perfection doesn't teach good habits. Sitting down and doing something challenging does.

I have no inherent problem with homework. I have major issues with homework that serves as nothing more than busy work for a gifted student who learned and comprehended everything (s)he is being asked to waste time on, at home, in the first ten minutes of class. This is how you teach very bright people to hate learning.

Siting down and doing something you already know how to do to perfection doesn't teach good habits. Sitting down and doing something challenging does.