'Hit a Jew Day' students to be punished

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CHESTERFIELD, Mo., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Officials at a Chesterfield, Mo., middle school said a handful of students will be punished for organizing "Hit a Jew Day."

Parkway West Middle School Principal Linda Lelonek said four or five students will face punishment including parent-teacher conferences and suspensions after they designated "Hit a Jew Day" as part of an unofficial "spirit week" that also included "Hug a Friend Day" and "High Five Day," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday.

Lelonek said the students mostly were not hitting the 850-student school's Jewish population of about 35 but rather tapping them lightly.

"It was almost like a tag thing," Lelonek said. "But then it changed."

She said three or four students were slapped.