http://www.newsobserver.com/152/story/513096.html

Message found; teacher quits
'Destroy America' embedded in puzzle

Marti Maguire, Staff Writer

A message embedded in a Spanish assignment that included the words "destroy America" has led a teacher to resign and sparked concerns among parents at a Johnston County high school.
Students said former Smithfield-Selma High Spanish teacher Khalid Chahhou gave them an extra-credit "word search" Thursday that required them to translate vocabulary words and find them in a grid of letters.

They started seeing other words such as "destroy" and "terrorist" and eventually put together a few sentences that decry violence against Palestinians and appear to condemn the United States for its involvement in the conflict.

Students alerted the school administration, which confronted Chahhou. Chahhou resigned from the district late Thursday. When reached by phone Monday, he confirmed this account but refused to comment further on the incident.

"I don't want to talk about this dark page in my life any more," Chahhou said.

Sophomore Chris McDaniels said the word search caught his attention because it was handwritten; they were usually typed.

"I think some of the people in the class were kind of afraid, because how the world is today, you never know with people," McDaniels said. "Even if you've known them for a while, they could turn out to be someone completely different."

Shakil Ahmed, president of the Islamic Association of Cary, said Chahhou told him he had made the puzzle when he was upset after seeing news reports of deaths of Palestinians at the hands of Israeli troops.

"He must have gone through an outburst of emotions at that time," said Ahmed.

Ahmed said the act was out of character for the mild-mannered Chahhou, who has taught Arabic and religious studies to children at the mosque of about 200 members since he moved to the area five months ago.

"He's the most softest-spoken, most gentle, kindest person I've come across," said Ahmed, adding that Chahhou was embarrassed by his actions.

But Carla McDaniels, Chris' mother, was one of several parents who wondered how someone with what they see as extremist tendencies ended up teaching at a public school, where he could impose his views on children.

"With him resigning, who's to say he's not going to go to another school district to do the same thing?" Carla McDaniels asked.

She also said she wants to see Chahhou face criminal charges. The school district notified authorities of the incident, but no charges were filed.

A native of Morrocco, Chahhou moved to North Carolina from New York. Ahmed said that Chahhou was working on a doctorate in Spanish in addition to his teaching job.

Johnston officials wouldn't comment on their hiring practices. But Steve Scroggs, who oversees hiring for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district, said that districts can't discriminate against teachers for their political or religious affiliations.

"You simply can't ask someone's political ideology during an interview, any more than you can ask them their religion, or any more than you can ask them other personal information," Scroggs said.