Students Claim ‘This Is Are Story’ In Prom Slogan Fail

This is are story: it’s the prom slogan fail being heard around the world after ABC7 iTeam‘s Chuck Goudie posted it to his Facebook page on June 6.

But if your kids are being taught at Paul Robeson High School — part of the Chicago Public Schools system and the creators of this grammar mishap — it might come across as more infuriating than funny.

That’s at least how EAGNews.org‘s Hilary Gowins sees it.

“It’s hard to deny just how poorly Chicago’s public schools are performing when it hits you in the face. Such is the case with Paul Robeson High School’s 2014 prom theme: ‘This is Are Story,'” she writes.

Gowins continued with some pretty damning statistics:

Some people might enjoy mocking the irony of the gross misuse of vocabulary.

But unless the organizers of the prom festivities planned the wording this way as a joke, there’s nothing funny about the situation.

Paul Robeson High School is located in the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods in the city. The high school also is part of the failing Chicago Public Schools, or CPS, system.

Four out of 10 CPS freshmen do not graduate.

If they do graduate, 91 percent have to take remediation courses in college because they do not know how to do basic math and school work. Just 26 percent of CPS high school students are college-ready, according to the ACT subject matter tests.

What’s particularly infuriating for Gowins is that most of these students “can’t spell… can’t do math… and aren’t graduating,” yet teachers in the district are getting raises.

Gowins calls the “This is are story” prom slogan fail “a glaring example of just how bad things have gotten,” adding that the “tragic irony is that Paul Robeson students picked a theme that evokes hope for the future; something every child deserves.”

Unfortunately for the kids and teachers responsible for signing off on the proof from the printer, commenters on Goudie’s page are doing a terrific job of taking this thing viral.

Jerrod Mason: “Their, their; your all just jealous. Besides, it should say, ‘This be are story.'”

Richard Johnston: “It was supposed to read This Are Is Story. Give them a break.”

Sharon Walker: “Glad I won’t b around when these jugheads are running this country.”

And, of course, the Obama tie-in comment from Jack Dorso: “This is the face of Obama’s Chicago. Its [sic] what he wants to bring to the rest of the country.”

We’ve covered several education fails before, particularly the teacher strikes from last year in, where else, Chicago; but it’s stuff like this the Internet never forgets.

Hopefully, This Is Are Story won’t follow these kids around for the rest of their lives, but they’re not off to a good start.

Do you think Paul Robeson High School should be investigated, or is this really that big of a deal? Share your thoughts in our comments section.

[Image via Facebook]