Allison Wint, a former substitute teacher at Harper Creek Middle School, says she was fired after using the word "vagina" in a lecture about art history. (Photo: Allison Wint) 
 
 Vagina. It's a noun describing female anatomy that caused such outrage in the Michigan Legislature in 2012 that a legislator was blocked from speaking after using it. 
 
 Now, a substitute teacher says using it got her fired from a Battle Creek middle school after she said it in an art history lecture — though administrators rejected that claim and say there were other policy issues that they can't specify. 
 
 Allison Wint, who had been teaching art at Harper Creek Middle School since January, says she was speaking about a broader topic of controversy in art when she held up reproductions of paintings by Georgia O’Keefe, some of which have been seen as erotic. 
 
 At some point, Wint remembers saying: “Imagine walking into a gallery when (O’Keefe) was first showing her pieces, and thinking, ‘Am I actually seeing vaginas here, am I a pervert? I’m either a pervert or this woman was a pervert.’ ” 
 
 She was hoping to have a thoughtful dialogue with a class of about two dozen eighth-graders on Thursday — but school officials have said her lesson ran afoul of policies. Through the course of the lecture, she went on to use the word vagina “maybe 10 times,” she said. “But it was never in a vulgar capacity.” 
 
 In response, Harper Creek Superintendent Rob Ridgeway told the Free Press on Wednesday that Wint was actually fired for veering from the curriculum and not informing the principal beforehand that she would be discussing controversy in art. She was also fired for other policy violations that he declined to detail, he said. 
 
 "She was not terminated due to uttering the word 'vagina,' " Ridgeway added. And in a statement he noted: "We do not shy away from controversial issues...We work very diligently to ensure that all students, staff and contracted personnel are treated fairly with respect and privacy." 
 
 In June 2012, State Rep. Lisa Brown, voting against the abortion regulations, told supporters of a bill at the time: "I'm flattered you're all so interested in my vagina. But no means no," referencing the proposal. She was silenced from speaking about any issues for the rest of the final day of that legislative session. 
 
 Wint told the Free Press she expected the students to giggle, which they did. But by the end of the class, she says the dialogue seemed productive. 
 
 “I thought if I used a euphemism, that would make it into a joke,” she said. “And I don’t think that’s a word you should be afraid of.” 
 
 The school’s principal, Kim Thayer, apparently was not amused. The next day, Friday, she says she approached Wint before class and said that she had used the word “vagina … without previous approval." 
 
 “She said there are a thousand other ways to teach controversy, and that it was inappropriate,” Wint recalled. 
 
 Thayer asked whether Wint could remove her belongings and leave the school within one hour. Now Wint is looking for a new job. 
 
 “I was really invested in those kids,” Wint says. “And I miss them a lot.” 
 
 School officials initially told the TV station WWMT that teachers must get approval before discussing reproductive health, and provided a matching page from a school policy guidebook. 
 
 “Being afraid of the word … creates an aura of shame around the body part," Wint said. 
 
 And Wint notes that her contract as a substitute teacher meant that she could be let go for virtually any reason. 
 
 She says she has never been disciplined at the school before. The most serious trouble she can remember came after she hung a sign behind her desk made by one of her students. The sign read “Marriage is about love, not gender.” She said the principal told her to take the sign down. 
 
 Contact Daniel Bethencourt: 313-223-4531 or dbethencourt@freepress.com. Follow on Twitter @_dbethencourt. Free Press staff writer Robert Allen and The Battle Creek Enquirer contributed reporting. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/1Szsf18 ||||| BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - A West Michigan substitute teacher says she was fired for using an anatomical word during a teaching lesson. 
 
 The Battle Creek substitute teacher was fired on Friday, and says she had no clue saying the word "vagina" would cost her her job. 
 
 If you ask Allison Wint why she was fired from Harper Creek Middle School, she will tell you it's because she uttered the word 'vagina.' 
 
 "Yes, I did say that word however I was saying it in the context of art history; I wasn't being vulgar," she said. 
 
 The substitute art teacher claims she said it to a room full of 8th graders trying to explain historical interpretations of Georgia O'Keefe's paintings. But to school officials, Wint crossed the line--and violated school policy. 
 
 "I did not know about this policy, they were entirely within their right to remove me, however I was not aware of this policy beforehand; if I had known about this policy, I would have never done it without approval," Wint said. 
 
 But her explanation wasn't enough; Harper Creek Community Schools released a quote from their school handbook, indicating teachers are required to get advanced approval when discussing any form of reproductive health. 
 
 Wint says even so, she is still in disbelief she was dismissed. 
 
 "I honestly had no words, because I've always been an advocate of not censoring art and music and writing," she said. 
 
 After clearing out her classroom and packing all her artwork into her car, Wint says losing her students hurts more than losing her job and she will not fight her termination. 
 
 "I harbor no ill will against them," she said. 
 
 Wint was a longtime substitute, placed at Harper Creek through an outside agency. 
 
 She says she now plans to look for work somewhere else. 
 
 We have contacted the school and they directed us to a statement that they posted on the school's Facebook page. It reads: 
 
 Harper Creek Community Schools prides itself on being an outstanding educational institution which consistently operates with purpose, respect, and integrity. We are aware of the allegations that controversial subject matter resulted in a substitute teacher, employed through a third party agency, not being invited back for further service. This is not the case. We do not shy away from controversial issues. The District did have concerns that the substitute teacher did not follow district art curriculum. These concerns, in addition to other failures, were the basis for the determination. We work very diligently to ensure that all students, staff and contracted personnel are treated fairly with respect and privacy. 
 

– Substitute teacher Allison Wint showed eighth-graders artwork by Georgia O'Keeffe—known for painting flowers that resemble female genitalia—during a lesson last Thursday, remarking that the first viewers who saw "vaginas" within the paintings likely thought, "I'm either a pervert or this woman was a pervert." She mentioned the word vagina "maybe 10 times" throughout the art history lesson, but "never in a vulgar capacity," she tells the Detroit Free Press. It was apparently enough to get her fired. Wint says the principal of Harper Creek Middle School in Battle Creek, Mich., asked her to leave school the next day because she had used the word vagina "without previous approval" and that "it was inappropriate." "I thought if I used a euphemism, that would make it into a joke. And I don't think that's a word you should be afraid of," says Wint. "Being afraid of the word … creates an aura of shame around the body part." School officials say teachers need advance approval to discuss forms of reproductive health, per WWMT. Wint says she would have sought approval if she had known about the policy, but she won't try to reverse the school's decision. Some on Facebook, however, are calling for her to be reinstated. "Whoever fired this teacher should be ashamed of themselves," writes one user. "It seems some people at this school need to do some growing up, and it's not the students," says another. (A teacher said she was fired for discussing a famous court case.)