North Georgia teacher Catherine Ariemma made news after she allowed her students to wear white robes resembling those worn by the KKK when she staged a reenactment in her classroom. It was meant to be a history lesson for her students, but instead, it sparked controversy.
Now, Ariemma awaits a decision about her future from the Lumpkin County School Board. She joined FOX 5 on Tuesday to talk about what happened in her classroom, and what it might mean for her career
Ariemma says she deeply regrets the incident and calls it "a lapse in judgment", and insists she never meant to hurt anyone.
She says she decided to talk publicly because she felt it was important to give her own account of what happened.
"It was not my intention for anyone to be threatened but they do and I have to take responsibility and I do," said embattled teacher Catherine Ariemma.
The Dahlonega history appeared on Good Day Xtra Tuesday morning to address a controversial incident that has placed her at the center of a media firestorm.
Ariemma was placed on administrative leave after allowing for students to wear mock Ku Klux Klan outfits as part of a high school history class project. Ariemma says the costumed students were taking part in a reenactment about the history of racism. Some black students in the lunchroom became upset when they saw the students walking through the cafeteria in the outfits.
Ariemma says she was escorting the students who wear wearing sheets and didn't realize lunch was in session.
"That was the mistake, in that there were a lot of students in there who were not going to hear that this was a class project, so they saw something and took it out of context, and of course they had no way of knowing-- they had no way of knowing," said Ariemma.
Ariemma faces suspension or possible termination. She says she's received strong support from current and former students and parents. She says she deeply regrets the incident, and she used poor judgment.
"In hindsight would I do that? Absolutely not. But it's done and I can't undo it. All I can do is say I'm sorry, and I am," said Ariemma.
Ariemma says if she had to do it over again, she would not have allowed the advanced placement history students to film the class project at the school
