Chemistry joke in yearbook nearly ruins model student's graduation

A chemistry joke nearly ruined the graduation of a senior high school student in Georgia in the United States – after school administrators finally deciphered the message she wrote on her yearbook, a Georgia TV station reported Tuesday (PHL time).

Paris Gray was suspended and not allowed to take part in a senior walk last Friday over the quote she left near her yearbook portrait, WSB-TV reported.

"When the going gets tough just remember to Barium, Carbon, Potassium, Thorium, Astatine, Arsenic, Sulfur, Uranium, Phosphorus," read the message.

But school administrators eventually deciphered the hidden message by using the Periodic Table - where the nine chemicals Gray mentioned spelled "Ba, C, K, Th, At, As, S, U and P."

Some may consider the expression "back that ass up" offensive as it may refer to a dance move where a girl drops her ass to the floor and gets freaky.

The message got Gray, a senior vice president and a campus leader at Mundy's Mill High School, into trouble with the school.

"Basically, it was me just saying start all over again... You have to go back and start all over," Gray explained.

An assistant principal even told her she would no longer join the senior walk or give an inspirational talk she was slated to deliver at the graduation rite.

"It just completely destroyed me, and my mom's been telling me don't let it ruin my happiness but it's like really taking a big toll," Gray said.

But on Tuesday, Gray and her family met with the school's principal and the area superintendent, who the report said "apologized for the miscommunication."

The school officials also said they would not bar Gray from giving a speech at graduation, with the superintendent challenging her to "give the best speech ever."
 
A separate report on Mashable said the row could have been avoided "if yearbook editors or staff at the school had caught the quote before the yearbooks had been printed."

"But perhaps some people are just slow to the punchline," it said. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News