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Teen’s clever yearbook quote could get her banned from graduation

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CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A high school senior in Georgia could be banned from graduation after the fallout following her quote that appeared in the yearbook, according to WSB-TV.

Paris Gray is the senior class vice president, a member of SADD and the Beta Club, and a leader on campus. However, she could be kept from walking at graduation next week, according to the report.

Gray received in-school suspension and was kept from a senior walk event last week after yearbooks were distributed to students.

Inside the yearbook was Gray’s quote. The message read:

“When the going gets tough, just remember to Barium Carbon Potassium Thorium Astatine Arsenic Sulfer[sic] Utranium[sic] Phospheros[sic].”

However, it’s the abbreviation for those elements that got her in trouble.

“I think their reaction was beyond what it should have been because nobody understood it,” Gray told WSB-TV. Gray said the message was not flagged by editors.

Gray was told her planned graduation ceremony speech has been canceled. A school district spokesperson says that no final decision has been made.