A substitute teacher in Georgia, Vermont, has been fired after she taught her students the Nazi salute and had them demonstrate it with her, according to local media reports.
The teacher, who was not identified, was filling in as a long-term substitute for a third-grade class at Georgia Elementary & Middle School, per NBC5.
According to Seven Days, the incident took place Thursday as students were returning from the cafeteria to their classroom. School officials say the children were walking with their arms raised in the traditional Nazi salute, with their teacher demonstrating the post alongside them.
A parent in the parking lot witnessed the group and said the teacher “then raised her arm slightly and said, ‘and now we say, Heil Hitler,’” per the Milton Independent.
The parent reported the incident to school officials, who confronted the substitute. The woman reportedly admitted to making the gesture and remark, per NBC5. She was fired Thursday night.
According to the Independent, the teacher had been subbing at the school for eight years without incident.
Nazi salutes have landed other people and educators in trouble recently as well, as CNN fired commentator Jeffrey Lord for tweeting the phrase “Sieg Heil,” a traditional Nazi phrase used with a salute. High school students in Albany, California, and Cypress, Texas, posed while making the salute in February and March as well.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum recommends that students begin learning about the historical events of the Holocaust in fourth grade.
This story was originally published September 23, 2017 1:16 PM.