Teacher allowed to keep her job after Wheel Of Misfortune incident

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STEVENSON, Wash. -- A chemistry teacher at Stevenson High School in Skamania County has been placed on administrative leave after videos surfaced of students being pelted with plastic balls in her classroom. The teacher, Kem Patteson, has been teaching at Stevenson High for almost 14 years. Students said the ball throwing was her way of punishing them for doing things like chewing gum in class. Now Patteson has been placed on paid leave. KGW spoke with several students and some said they thought school administrators overreacted, while others were glad the teacher was pulled from class. Video shared with KGW from May showed a boy holding up to protect his face from being hit. The most recent incident allegedly occurred last week. Sophomore Zoey Zapfe, 15, said she was pummeled with the plastic balls after she first had to spin the "Wheel of Misfortune" that the teacher keeps in her classroom. The wheel landed on "Koosh firing squad." Then, about 30 students and the teacher lined up to throw the balls at her. "I was chewing gum in class and she caught me and I had to spit it out and spin the wheel," Zapfe said. "When the guys throw it, it hurts. I had like, welts." "I've gotten 'Kooshed' a couple times but never in the face or anything," said Hannah Young, a senior at Stevenson High. "I kinda think they're overreacting a little bit. She probably shouldn't have done it, but I don't know if it's cause to fire her." Marina Levy, the Senior Class President, told KGW the teacher did give students the chance to "opt out" of the so-called firing squad. "Everything on 'the wheel' can be exchanged for a lunch detention so students are never forced to do anything," she said. "I don't think this is anything near what it's being made into." KGW reached out to the school district, which said safety was its top priority. The superintendent also released a statement that said the district takes any matter of concern voiced by parents and students seriously. When the high school initially became aware of the incident at hand, it was dealt with in a prompt manner by the school principal, the statement explained. A third-party investigator is now looking into the complaint for the district.

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The school recently sent a letter parents explaining the situation:

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Dear Stevenson High School Parents: As you may know, we’ve been working with a third-party investigator to review the details of a video that surfaced on social media last week. The situation called to light an inappropriate classroom management technique used by a Stevenson High School teacher. It involved giving students the choice of spinning a “Wheel of Misfortune” for low-level misconduct rather than getting lunch detention. The consequences on the wheel included allowing other students in the classroom to throw a soft rubber “Koosh” ball at the student. The videos circulating showed students throwing the ball at a student. This is not a practice authorized or condoned by the District and it has been stopped. When the high school became aware of the details of how the controversial classroom management tool was being used, the prop was removed from the classroom. The teacher was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. First and foremost, our District aims to make sure that only high quality instruction occurs in the classroom and that our students are treated with respect. Our primary goal is to provide students with optimal conditions for learning by maintaining a school environment where everyone is engaged and positive. We all have learned from this unfortunate circumstance and I want to assure you, it is our top priority to carefully review classroom management techniques and provide sensitivity training. As required by the new Teacher Principal Evaluation Project, we evaluate all of our teachers’ classroom instructional practices using rigorous criteria. We expect the best of our teachers and that they model only the best practices and behaviors. On Wednesday, October 15th, the results of the investigation were provided to us. After interviews with students, school staff and the teacher, the investigator recommended that the teacher be re-instated to the classroom with appropriate safeguards in place to ensure an appropriate classroom environment. The investigator concluded that the use of the wheel was inappropriate, but well-intentioned, and the teacher did not desire to embarrass, intimidate or harm any student. However, poor judgment by any teacher is concerning and we plan to work with the teacher on more positive and productive classroom management skills going forward. We understand some parents may still have concerns, and we ask that you please contact us directly so we can address your questions and discuss options. I want to thank parents, staff and community members for their support, patience and understanding as we work through this challenge and work together in a positive, productive way.

The Wheel Of Misfortune was removed from the classroom, Patteson was allowed to keep her job after the Koosh ball punishment with Zapfe, and reports of Zapfe being bullied by other students surfaced after the story broke.



Without seeing it or knowing the details behind it, the Wheel Of Misfortune sounds like some diabolical torture device from a movie, and when you hear the term "firing squad" you can easily see why Patteson's wheel sparked some controversy. Choices on the wheel include the "Koosh ball firing squad", loosing your seat, winning a piece of candy, or you can simply spin the wheel again for another chance.



Considering all the choices on the wheel, and Patteson giving her students a chance to opt out of the Koosh ball punishment, the wheel doesn't strike me as a malicious form of punishment. This is going back to my elementary school days, but I remember a teacher, who used a Hangman style game to punish the class with extra homework. As a class, if we couldn't stop talking at her request, if someone was caught chewing gum, or if you had that the one person, who had to be the center of attention (the class clown), she would spell out "extra homework" on the board. Of course, if things got out of hand, she would just spell out extra homework after three or four letters to send a message.



As far as Zapfe goes, there's a good chance she chose to spin the wheel out of peer pressure, because she wanted to fit in. After the punishment, humiliation got the best of her, and she decided to speak out against the wheel. Patteson has her fair share of supporters, including students, but Zapfe is receiving the pariah treatment at school. A lot of people just see someone, who exaggerated her story to the news, and someone, who made a big fuss over nothing to get her fifteen minutes of fame. After all, according to reports, Patteson used the Wheel Of Misfortune for two years with no real complaints from students.



It's a mixed bag for me. Yes, you can say Patteson's wheel was a fun and creative idea for her classes, but on the other hand, you have to believe in others (past and present) choosing silence, because they don't want the label of a "snitch" or a "whiner." Whether you throw Koosh balls, balls of paper, or balls of cotton, you can't ignore the feeling of humiliation, while you stand in front of a laughing crowd. Maybe Zapfe had a hidden agenda in all of this, but something had to bother her emotionally, if she felt the need to speak up.



Although, I don't have a problem with Patteson keeping her job. It's a different story, IF Patteson was some sick and twisted person, who relished the idea of embarrassing and injuring high school kids. But I get the feeling she's someone, who made a poor judgment call with the wheel, and she never meant to intentionally hurt or embarrass her students.



All thoughts and discussion regarding this article are welcome.