By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com
Pictured is a still image from the YouTube video depicting a San Benito Veterans Memorial Academy teacher telling her students she's "married to God."
There have been new developments in the story about a San Benito ninth grade teacher who was captured on video announcing to her class that she’s “married to God.”
The video, which was filmed Monday afternoon, was initially uploaded on YouTube and depicts a female electives teacher speaking in Spanish to ninth graders at Veterans Memorial Academy about her relationship with God. Students commenting on the condition of anonymity identified the educator as a Ms. Parades.
But this isn’t the first time such an incident has occurred. Moments after the San Benito News broke the story via sbnewspaper.com, several students informed that she had a similar incident occur in December of last year involving comments she allegedly made about the end of the world.
According to a trusted source involved in the matter, the educator in question was said to have suffered from a bad reaction to medication when both incidents occurred.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that the educator had been working for the district for nine years and, prior to the two aforementioned incidents, had not displayed such behavior in the past.
As reported earlier, the teacher told her students on Monday that she was “married to God” and she didn’t know what was going to happen to her “husband that’s here.” She also said, “One of my eyes is mine and the other one belongs to God, so God is watching what you all are doing.”
A female student is then shown in the video approaching the teacher after she asked the class if anyone wanted to look into her eyes. Afterwards, the teacher then walked toward the back of the class and curiously held her stomach. Students have indicated that the teacher – at one point – said she was pregnant with God’s child.
The male student who captured the incident on video can be heard mocking his teacher throughout the 12-minute recording. An unidentified administrator then entered the classroom and escorted the teacher outside.
When asked to confirm the teacher’s identity in the video, San Benito CISD Superintendent of Schools Antonio G. Limón referred the News to a statement prepared by Community Relations Director Celia Longoria.
The statement reads:
“An incident involving a San Benito Veterans Memorial Academy teacher remains under review by campus and district officials.
Students in the classroom alerted other school personnel who responded by escorting the teacher out of the classroom during the recent incident.
San Benito CISD wants to assure the parents that a replacement teacher has been assigned to fulfill the classroom duties of the teacher in question and will remain there for the remainder of the school year.
The issue in question is considered a personnel matter, therefore, the district is not at liberty to disclose any additional information or divulge specific details about the district’s specific course of action.”
School officials have yet to comment on whether any disciplinary action has been taken against the teacher. In the meantime, the News has acquired a copy of the video, which can be seen below.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmcDfB5-yrM&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
For more on this story, pick up a copy of the May 13 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
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I have to agree with (Yet Another ). Having a mental disorder/disability does not render one incapable of teaching. Not all mental conditions have negative or extreme effects medicated or not. In fact some can be extremely beneficial in the classroom in addition to enabling a teacher to relate to or empathize with students with mental/psychological disabilities. Take note you parents of kids with accommodations & 504 plans, as well as those of you who are relatives and friends of such parents. Keep in mind that the children we teach will hopefully grow up, graduate, & get a job. In case you insist on continuing the negativity (providing a great example for our “vulnerable” “misbehaving” students) I strongly suggest you sit your mentally disabled child down and explain that they should avoid at ALL costs pursuing ANY position of POWER and that as soon as they are grown you will commit them to a psychiatric institution… For their own safety of course. Now I do feel campus & district staff should have taken action during the initial incident, however they should have also consulted with a professional about her functionality in the classroom. As we know a lot of things do get “swept under the rug” so this should be used as a time to reflect and re-evaluate how to handle such matters. Parents SHOULD have been notified of the incident prior for morality sake the same as educators expect students to report incidents. Lastly I would like to address the comments referring to the videographers parents ‘letting’ him post the video. You are horribly mistaken/uneducated about today’s youth if you think he needed permission to post anything or that phone recording in class is anything new. His parents probably had no clue & found out like everyone else, cause I assure you, your kids don’t tell you 80% of what goes on at school and that’s if you even bother asking besides “how was school”. If you are curious search YouTube for SanBenito/SBHS/VMA fights you’d be surprised. I’d thank the student for bringing it to light, explain a better way to report inappropriate teacher behavior, but still discipline him for using his phone in class. If we want our students to be open minded citizens we ourselves have to show them by our own actions how else are they to learn?
I have to say that as a teacher with a mental disorder, I think it is highly offensive to say that just because they have a disorder, they should not be able to hold such authoritative positions. I am perfectly capable of handling my disorder AND teaching.
This Is Just Plain Stupidity, This Woman Is Far From Knowing The Truth. Im Offended!
‘Can’tsay’ up there just proved how vulnerable these students were to this religious nut… Now this girl seriously believes that there was ‘something higher’ in the room. Exactly why religion should be kept out of our educational and governmental systems. This just creates more nut-jobs.
WILL HE LOST!!!!!
The main porpuse of a teacher is to be a guide to the students, if she is an educator, she can’t be in front of a class if she has mental problems, she need to be removed by the school district, the students are very “vulnerable”she need urgent medical therapy,and put to work in a different environment , is very sad, but our porpuse is the healty future of students. Thanks
I was there when this happened and I have seen this from Mrs. Lopez before. For some reason this time around I did really believe it. You could feel it in the room and everyone did too. Even the people that were kinda laughing, it was because they were nervous and I believe the guy who was recording this was higher than a kite. So everything is funny and always funny to him. The whole thing was very scary but not because we thought she was having a break down but because at least a tiny bit, I did feel the presence of something greater. I know it sounds crazy but I do believe she is sick but at the same time I feel she is very spiritual and connected. I love Ms. Lopez and she’s an amazing teacher. She is just very misunderstood. Maybe I don’t believe everything she says but I do feel the feelings behind it were genuine and she wasn’t trying to harm us. I just hope that she is OK.
First of all, she is right in a way. God lives in all of us. To that I agree but she said that he was only in her and all that she said was alittle disturbing. But besides that you all should not be judging her. You are in no place to judge her. Only god can judge her. If you all would go to church you would know this. Now before you go judging other people think of what Jesus has taught us. Think to yourself “What would Jesus Do?”
Yes what the teacher did was disturbing but what about the student that is recordind the video and other students in the class. Why did he feel the need to record? What provoked him to break out his phone and video tape this event? What action is being taken against him for having electronic devices in a classroom? What about his language & mocking? Why did the class feel the need to let this go on for 12 minutes? Why did someone not get up earlier?
O plz fire her. She has no business teaching ANYMORE
Still, the truth of the matter is, unfortunately, the woman had a psychotic break. It was unfortunate it happened in a room full of students in the middle of class, but she should be treated with sympathy, not scorn. Mental illness is a very serious thing, and she shouldn’t be shamed for it. She should find treatment. Teenagers are generally terrible people-as evidence by this video, since it seems it took at least12 minutes for anyone to contact an administrator? which, okay, maybe it didn’t occur to them-but I am really glad no one was hurt. This is a cause for sympathy all around. Poor woman; poor kids who had to sit through this.
Maybe it was the effects of the teacher watching students throw food at each other during cafeteria food fights when some where there are little children going hungry or undernourished . What ever the cause may have been folks this really happens and how to monitor this will not happen again is anybodies guess. Most large corporations have social experts on staaff who help thier empoyees cope thorugh personnal crisis. Maybe the school district should have the same support for thier teachers and students who are no differnt from you or I considering the wide differnce in charaters and attitudes.
LMFAO!!!!
I agree. Those kids at that school have no respect for their teachers. Honestly, they probably werent really paying attention to her and just laughing at the fact that she kept rambling on and on about God. Being a person who has visited a friend during lunch while they were substituting, I’m pretty sure sure the ‘vulnerable’ 9th graders will be fine. Just laugh at this the rest of their high school years until they grow up and realize how immature they were being, if they ever do.
@alum, the students are unruly because it is administration that do not take proper discipline when incidents occur. Stop blaming the students, its the school administration that allows such behavior because they do not follow discipline guidelines. Kids will only push as far as they are allowed. Administrators should follow Mr. Snavely’s (at BC) example and make their school as successful as he has.
The fact that a female student stood in front of the teacher for a period of time validates the statement that our teenagers are impressionable, why else would the student have done this. The student in the video above must have been afraid “not to believe”. Even if she was the only one that was affected, she will always have doubts for the rest of her life. She will always question if it were true, AND, she will be mocked by other students. My nineth grade English teacher told me that people laugh or make fun of things that they don’t understand or when they are nervous or scared. I saw a lot of that going on in this video. I also saw how the students were running out of the classroom toward the end. While it is true, we should not be against anyone with a handicap, it is an extreem disregaurd of safety to allow a person to hold a position of authority when they have a mental illness, have been confined to an institution, or have displayed conduct as such. What would we have said if at the end of the video the teacher had pulled out a gun and shot all the students in the classroom saying she was taking them all to Heaven with her instead of just swaying back and forth to the music. Too often, we state after the fact, “Well, if we had just done this…” or “Well, I never thought they would do anything…” I’m sure if everyone thinks back they can find at least one moment in their lives when something “should have” been done differently, but wasn’t.
Had this student not video taped this, the public would have never become aware of it. Parents need to know what is going on in the classrooms! How much is kept from parents? It is very disturbing and it is not ok. David Koresh’s followers were adults too. These are children and indeed vulnerable! Would it then be just to say that what David Koresh did was ok because perhaps he was schizophrenic?
C.S.V you are right in saying “what about the principal” She could have spared this poor teacher the humiliation had she taken action after the first incident!!! When my son came home and told me this teacher was back in the classroom after the first episode I was in disbelief. The principal should have taken action and immediatly removed or reassigned this teacher to avoid what happened again. If they were aware of her taking medication due to a mental illness why was she allowed back in the classroom around our children. So by the administrator making ANOTHER bad decision our kids were exposed to this once again and now the poor teacher is all over the news and internet. Sad that all this drama could have been avoided had the proper decisions been made. Thankful nothing worse happened and hoping this teacher gets help. Also hopefully the administrator in charge learnd a lesson and will think about the kids safety next time versus worrying about deleting the video before it was exposed. Happy my son will no longer be on this campus next year!
I only have one question: is this woman married to any one on earth. I think she is hot and could totally hook up with her.
As for the kids, cmon you all know your kids are stupid and the godtalk has no effect on them.
Thanks,
Pimpy “slice o’heaven” D
WHAT THE???????
Just leave this woman alone if she needs help im sure she will get it quit judging her
I believe that only god can judge us and this criticism should stop everyone makes mistakes .
Age=she…sorry folks…using my phone to post.on this thread
Keep in mind folks, that even a mental illness can be classified as a handicap, especially one as serious as schizophrenia. So although what age did was wrong and it broke a few laws, under statues that cover Equal Opportunity, she could be protected. Any reason that she hasn’t been fired or dismissed could be because the school district could be trying to avoid lawsuits. Not saying its ok or right for her to do what she did. It was wrong, but when its due to an illness or handicap, in most cases, the district’s hands are tied. Especially if the teacher had nine good years, or have no actual proof of anything otherwise.
this.
@joey v, the school district does not care about lawsuits. They don’t protect anyone, except themselves and their favorites. The district doesn’t even pay attention to federal or state laws, they probably don’t know what they are. The school board should become educated on the laws so they can make sound decisions instead of listening to self-serving principals and superintendent.
this is not the first time this woman has had this happen!!!! About 4 or 5 years ago, she came to my house at night and started saying how she loved my family and she had to warn us and told us all this crazy, religious stuff. Her husband had her admitted into a mental hospital after that when she went to several of my friend’s houses. She is a really nice lady, but she had mental problems and should not be teaching.
Thiss iss frkn craazy lol
She is not in her right mind to teach!!!
As u can see un this “seen” !
This is so very sad all the way around. Teens or not, those are impressionable children who witnessed a very real and possibly traumatic episode. Mental illness is a disease process like any other and my sympathies go out to everyone involved. However, as an educator, she has an obligation to be “fit for duty.” She may need some time out of the classroom to work those issues out… And that was no reaction to medication, but we don’t need to know those details. All the school needs to do is announce their strategy to fix this problem.
The reality is that the only person here that needs to answer all these questions is the one and only ANTONIO G. LIMON, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
Mr. Limon for several years has had the FULL POWER of all the Hiring, Firing, Promoting, etc. Instead of protecting the children at our District, he avoids holding teachers accountable. This teacher at VMA needs help and Mr. Limon needs to answer for her return to the classroom. Another perfect example is Sandra Tumberlinson, she was never reprimanded by the Superintendent and still she continues to teach our children. It does not matter how much education, money, or years of service she may have, the bottom line is, she’s an abusive and aggressive teacher with our children.
A few days ago a Rio Hondo Teacher was in an similar situation as Mrs. T and now that teacher has been suspended from the Rio Hondo District pending an investigation.
So ask yourself why doesn’t Mr. Limon hold Teachers accountable when our children are in danger?
WHAT ABOUT THE PRINCIPLE?! SHE SHOULD BE COMMUNICATING WITH THE SUPERINTENDENT! SOUNDS LIKE ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS POLITICAL REFERENCES AND TRYING TO BLAME THE SUPERINTENDENT.
Mrs. Tumberlinson was my teacher at BC and was never abusive or aggresive. This who thing with the Huerta child was all political. Mrs. Tumberlinson was targeted by the Huerta clan to have a chance to beat Mr. Tumberlinson for school board. Let’s be honest here. I and all my family already voted for Mr. T and his team.
@Eliah, you are so transparent, we get it, we know who you back up politically but you can’t change facts. Tumberlinson is OUT! He never did anything to help the school district or students, which is evident by the school districts failure to succeed and he continued to support a superintendent that has driven the school district into the ground. By the way, stop making excuses for what Mrs. Tumberlinson did, as always, she has her favorites.
TO THE EDITOR: Please let your ‘trusted source’ that providing false information to you is a deceptive way of trying to do damage control and is only self-serving. The teacher is schizophrenic and is currently admitted to a mental hospital. The district should have made accommodations for her and placed her in a different position away from students. They knew what was going on and chose to ignore the situation. Typical of top heavy administration and lack of true knowledge of administrators, including the superintendent, to only do things that help themselves or their friends.
SBCISD doesn’t care about lawsuits… they think they can just ‘deny’ what goes on and everything will be in their favor. There is a federal lawsuit in Brownsville because they fired a teacher who was on Family Medical Leave yet it says they are denying what they did even though the initial letter explaining the termination says it was because of the absences while she was on federal leave. They also tried to hid the real reason for firing her by saying the students had low TAKS scores, it seems when it comes to educators, they inflict and harass some while favoring others. Its public information and we can all see what is going on.
OK, I thought she was going to take out a gun and start shooting! Kids, if your teacher goes crazy on you, leave the room and go to the office. You do not have to sit and hear crazy lectures on Jesus or God in public schools. That’s one thing. Not on any approved curriculum. And when someone just goes bonkers, get out!!! Explain later. I feel very sorry for the teacher, I really do, but even spending 12 minutes talking about Jesus and God in school is wrong. I hope she gets well. I wonder what meds she was taking??? Don’t punish the boy who filmed this, it was brave of him to do so.
Everybody is now concerned because a teacher had a psychotic episode due to a side effect of a medication or mental illness. This is an era where stress is causing a lot of mental disorders. But what happen when the students are the ones that misbehave bad, that they do not do their work, they use bad language, they don’t have manners, they don’t care about their future and when parents are informed they only express “my kid is not that” “my kid is this or that” and instead of helping them they are causing more problems. Parents is very unfortunate that your young kids have to face a situation like this, but this is a good moment to teach your kids to have respect for other human being and be compassionate with others to become better citizens. Take this moment to teach those kids that were there, that instead of laughing and saying bad words, they should try to learn and understand a sick person.
yes, she may be someone but, I think that this should of not happen at all if one of the school adminstration had done something about it before anyone would of put it on the papers or any other network but, since no one did nothing about it a student had to deal with it its so sad to have seen this cause she does really need help and out of working as a teacher until she is well to be back in class and cause she did scared the students when she took off her shoes and put music, one does not know what would of happen next cause lots have happen in many other schools everybody has their own opinon and I hope she gets the help she needs
What???????????
Why the president of the school don’t say nothing cause its not any body buisness. She is a smart lady cause thinks like this you don’t put on the paper. One she is someone’s mother ,sister ,aunt, or what she may be and it hurts. Hope you don’t have to ever face something like this.
What?
Wow. It’s really hard to take you seriously with such horrible grammar, but with your logic, a murder should not be put in the news because that murderer had a family that could be hurt or embarrassed by the sutuation? Situations like this NEED to be put out in the public. These are peoples children at hand. What if this teacher had a violent reaction to her medications? All prayers out to this teacher but she needs help. I understand she is on medication but it’s obviously not working. Thank God this video was posted so now parents are aware, and this teacher can get the help she really needs.
An to touch up on a comment by “anonymous” replying to Luna Moon, the students are extremely vulnerable to what spews out of elders. Most teens now-a-days and vulnerable and influenced by everything around them thought their high school years. Lastly, the only reason the school district kept her for so long is because no incident such as this was ever reported, and filmed.
Really? Vulnerable is the word we are choosing to describe irresponsible, disrespectful teenagers. Mind you the malicious comments are justified. Yes, that was sarcasm. Filmed or not, reported or not…. too soon are rocks thrown at glass houses and blamed shifted. It is as much the responsibility of administration to protect the students as it is to protect their faculty. I have too ask, where is the parent responsibile for this student. How proud they must be for allowing the student to post the video. What? The parent had no idea what their “vulnerable child” did? Look people, the teacher should have been more careful about her topic. Now we are gonna have to blame the doctor who prescribed the medication. When will the viscious cycle stop?
Wow? Really? Surprises me that a teacher, knowing the laws, would respond in such a way, knowing that it is practically prohibited for us to speak of any religious beliefs during school hours. She could of easily expressed her faith in a christian club after school. The teen who recorded this was in all his right to because obviously it hadn’t been the first time she did this. In order to fix our problems in education, we have to face reality like what we just saw. Even if some students aren’t vulnerable, many still are. We have to realize that not all students are the same and their reactions are very different. If this situation would have been presented in a picture and the incident would have been explained, rather than for it to be filmed, then I could simpathize with the teacher, but everything is caught on tape. Now, 12 minutes and 30 seconds of INSTRUCTION time was used for this?! Please, come on, use the time wisely becasue I know for a fact that this won’t be tested on a Spanish AP Exam, much less the information she was giving wasn’t even legit. To finish off, nobody has to speak for this lady, she has to face her own consequences, but parents should have been notified of the incident to simply avoid legal actions against the district.
As a parent of a student in this class, I am glad i was able to see for myself what exactly went on in this class room, as said this has happened before and as a parent I feel we should have at least been notified of the incident, this young man that recorded it should not be punished for bringing it to our attention, because we were certainly not going to be informed by the school of this incident or the previous incident. I feel sad for this teacher it is obvious she needs help.
I know that the students are very fond of her and concerned for her. We all hope she gets the help she needs.
I heard she had been doing this for years! she shouldn’t be in the classroom teaching our youth! This isn’t a private matter because children are involved! The parents of all the children at VMA should be notified! We as parents have the right to know what is going on at school!
Excellent questions people! But ask yourselves why the President of the Board Yliana Rodriguez is saying nothing? It makes me wonder
TwoCentsWorth – Why on earth should Mrs. Rodriguez have to comment? Isn’t that the role of the Principal, Superintendent, or the PIO under the direction of the Superintendent?
yo-yo…Yliana Rodriguez is the president and the spokesman of the board. Hello!! Of course she has to comment. But she never does, because she always avoids the media.
Eliah, Hello!!! There are persons entrusted to deal with the everyday matters of the school district, all across the state. Not just here.
Wow, “Luna Moon”. That’s incredibly heartless of you. If this woman A) was experiencing side effects from some sort of medication or B) is mentally ill, you could really stand to be more compassionate. It’s not like she was intentionally having a psychotic episode.
I think it was handled properly by calmly removing her from the classroom. The parents of the child that recorded it should NEVER have allowed him to post it on the internet, however. That’s grounds for a defamation suit, if you ask me.
The ironclad defense for a libel/slander accusation is truth. This is a video of her being crazy. I don’t know how that can be considered defamation. Regardless of if she was having a bad reaction or not (which I don’t believe) or being mentally ill or not, there is NO way she should be allowed back into the classroom till she can prove that she is fit to do so. Also I completely disagree with you, in that this being released is a great thing, it would be much easier to sweep this under the rug if no one had ever heard anything about it.
@Brownsville Girl, get over it, you are ignorant. Defamation is any intentional false communication, either written or spoken, that harms a person’s reputation; decreases the respect, regard, or confidence in which a person is held; or induces disparaging, hostile, or disagreeable opinions or feelings against a person. THE VIDEO IS NOT FALSE! IT IS THE TRUTH IN ITS PUREST FORM!
The district in their statement claims this is a private matter. How convenient! Our students were subjected to this garbage; how can it be private when it affects the public?! Thankful the student recorded it! Obviously have been other incidents.
The excuse they are giving us is not acceptable and is obviously their attempt to sweep the incident under the rug. This woman obviously needs help and should not be allowed back into the classroom! Why is this woman more important than the kids she is around?? Why is the admin in this school willing to risk a LAWSUIT?? If my child were in this school I would pull her immediately!!
This is a very disturbing video of a delusional person spewing a bunch of religious mumbo-jumbo to vulnerable teens! See should be terminated IMMEDIATELY, and SEEK TREATMENT!
How sad. SBCISD officials should be embarrassed beyond belief!
I would like to correct you an several points that you have failed to realize. First, you misspelled the word she, misused the word terminated, and and forgot that the educator in the video is already “seeking treatment” (medication), which is what caused the seen in the first place. Second, this was at the ninth grade level, meaning that the teens in the video are not as “vulnerable” as you believe. And lastly, the educator had been teaching for nine years prior to the event, which I believe is reason enough for SBCISD to keep her there without embarrassment (prior to the event of course).
Perhaps you should read more often and judge less often because sometimes, you end up embarrassed.
Keep in mind that if you are going to criticize someone’s grammar, make sure you check your spelling. I think you meant “scene” instead of “seen.”
Maybe she meant Terminated?
Well, that was supposed to have a picture of Arnold in his Terminator role, but the image didn’t work. That totally killed my comment.
You must be an administrator at SBCISD because you are making excuses to justify the district’s lack of action. Stop being ignorant. Some kids at that age are still vulnerable, how dare you imply otherwise. As for the nine years of her teaching and the district keeping her employed is a sad excuse as they knew that she is schizophrenic, not a reaction to medicine. She probably didn’t take her medicines and her true self emerged. Otherwise, she wouldn’t currently be admitted to a mental hospital. Get your facts straight and remember the students are the priority here.
you used and twice in same sentence and misspelled scene 🙂
my grammar sucks! deal with it…
if that would have happened to me or any person that i know in the 9th grade today it would of freak me out beyond believe…vulnerable, impressionable, confused, you call it! teenagers non the less, teenagers that one way or another look up to teachers, i remember kids in my 9th grade group that were rude and now they appreciate good teachers we had in the past… she shouldn’t be giving classes.
u shut up she is still weird as hell……….
Anonymous….you misused the word “seen”…….just saying.