Wednesday
Jan272010
A Teaching Moment
January 27, 2010
Created to commemorate the students and teachers that make our communities proud, today's cakes truly deserve to be in a class of their own.
Ah, you can always count on teachers to critique your work.
Just be glad they couldn't find the red gel icing.
Ah, you can always count on teachers to critique your work.Just be glad they couldn't find the red gel icing.
Who knew that the HoFsTra STudenrT GoveraNeNT AssoCiaTion were such big fans of croquet? (I think my spell check just exploded.)
Oddly enough, I believe "Happy School Social" was the name of my 3rd grade dance. Yep. Slightly sad, awkward spaces, the occasional glaring failure...gee, there are all kinds of parallels going on here.
Hey, "Alumni Mentors," thanks SOOO much for everything. You're really "great." We are SOOO "glad" you could teach us how to "communicate" properly.
And lastly....
A certain school was celebrating great scores on the TAKS, which I believe is some kind of state-mandated testing like the FCAT, which we all know teachers everywhere adore and wish they had more of. Anyway, the cake was supposed to say "Congratulations for doing an exemplary job on TAKS", and the woman ordering asked that "TAKS" be in all capital letters.
Here's what they got:
"Congratulatiun for doing and Exernplary Jabon TAKS Capitol Letter"
That'll be $44.99, please!
Many thanks to Brittany S., Stephanie W., Sarah M., Mary R., & Vanessa for the "exernplary" wreckporting.
- Related Wreckage: Ode to Irony
- Related Wreckage: Ode to Irony
Reader Comments (97)
Oh, I wish that Cake Wrecks had been around when I was a student at AU's School of Communications. This is not the first, trust me.
The TAKS cake is so perfect. The biggest problem in public education in Texas is the TAKS! When Texas went to TAKS they also made the students results part of the decision about teachers keeping their jobs and bonus'. The cake just goes to show what happens when you teach kids how to test well, but you don't actually teach them anything worth while.
Is it even remotely possible, given the horrific spelling on the rest of the 'TAKS' cake that 'TAKS' is actually supposed to be 'tax'? Like, I dunno, maybe someone is really really grateful to the guy who did their taxes and wants to congratulatiun them for their exernplary jabon?
The tests in Texas have been TASP, TAAS, and now TAKS. TAKS stands for Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.... Which is a large baloney because some of passed in 20minutes, while some took 8 hours to pass/fail the math. Oi toledo! Poor Texas, we all fail.
Rimiti- I thought about remiti-l math... but 2+2=5 no matter what!
Oh my gosh, the TAKS cake is so perfect. Did you see the announcement that starting in 2011 TEXAS is changing the TAKS test to STARR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness)? Can't wait to see how they mess that up!
'Blame Kroger'? Nononono, someone had to CHOOSE those colors, I am sure. If you blame Kroger for anything, blame it for going, "Okay, whatever you want."
That being said: AHAHAHAHAHAHA 'capital letter'. Just when I think everyone has learned their lesson (isn't there be a network of wreckorators--"Dude, don't mess that up or you'll end up on that website!!") we see another literal LOL.
Wreck on, wreckers. Wreck on.
This is SO funny it made me cough, and usually that is not good, but it was so good to laugh, I don't think I cared! :) LOLZERZ. I love how everything is just better with "qotes", because, yeah, that totally makes a statement (perhaps unintentional?).
TAKS is the Texas standardized test that drives Texas students and teachers insane. Just announced this week as of 2011-2012 school year it will become the STAAR test.
FAIL
Ok, so right after I left your blog I headed over to another "mommy" type blog and continued laughing my butt off. So, it's not a cake, but you gotta see this.... http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/2010/01/sorry-for-what.html
The School Social cake is actually a multi-tasking cake. All they forgot was the comma: "Happy School Social, Work or Month".
It's sorta like those choose your own adventure books....
Andrea
Thank you, Mary R, for describing the correct use of quotation marks! The fact is that we should rarely see them on cakes but all too often do.
I only saw one other reference so I must say it - capitol refers to the building in which government is housed and capital is an upper case letter (as well as the reference to a city in which a capitol building can be found).
But, hey, the wreckerator did actually put TAKS all in caps, so that's good, right?
As a social worker working in an education setting I'd be happy with any kind of recognition cake ;^)
you can totally tell on the last one that they went over the "Janbon TAKS" with white icing. i wonder what was under there before....*shudder*
also, Jabon looks a lot like the french word "jambon" meaning ham.
Thanks for explaining TAKS. Thinking it was supposed to be TASK, I was gonna hafta AKS someone 'bout it.
@Mary R, valid point. i understand the flaw now... hm.
and it is agreed, quotation marks are not acceptable on cakes.
so what's your take on the SarcMark? :P
heheh
I wonder if the radiation-inspired colors on the first cake are the school colors of yellow and blue and the Kroger baker decided to get "kr8iv." There's no excuse though for the writing that looks it was done by a tired 8 year-old.
The cake with the quotation marks had me "dying" :o)
Perhaps there is a reason I left being a public high school English teacher behind and now proofread ads (oh yeah, you read that right: Someone DOES have to do it). But one coworker and I now think we should abandon ship and proofread cakes instead. Clearly, our frosting people need us.
I also must say, as I'm new here and still plowing through all of last year's entries, I CANNOT believe I missed the book tour, as you came right through my town. Your evil henchpeople must, must spread the word about this blog to everyone they know! No one must ever miss a Cake Wrecks tour again (SOB!).
Let's just hope that those cakes at least tasted good.
What a coincidence! My friends and I were just making fun of a poster about the civil war at my school. Instead of emancipation proclamation, it said emancapation porclamaion.
I'm thinking that the school social is actually a choice...
School Social,
Work or Month
Not certain what the month option would be, but given the choices, I'd go with that one!
One thing the American University cake has going for it is the very nice handwriting.
People don't actually pay for these cakes, do they?
Great timing as today in Aust our kids start their school year today...go Teachers!!!!
I second Jennie about the getting sick of exemplary, but it is a nice accomplishment. I moved to TX in high school (went to an exemplary high school) and got to take the benchmark (i.e. test test) for the benchmark for the TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills, the predecessor of TAKS), then take TAAS, then SET the benchmark the brand new TAKS twice, both years I was in the state. O.o I was soooo tested out.
For the alumni mentors cake, isn't it quoting the students who are thanking their mentors? Seems right to me.
Of course, I could be "wrong." ;)
Wow! And to think that I was the only American University SOC grad out there who's a fan of Cake Wrecks! I wish I still lived in DC to experience an actual Cake Wreck.
@knine22
I haven't decided how I feel about the sarc mark yet. My friends and I always would just write what we were saying and at the end type /sarcasm to indicate we were done being snarky. So the idea is sound, but the mark itself looks a bit silly ; )
@Fanboy Wife
I plead the fifth about the taste of the cake. The caterers who made it usually make a really fabulous spread of fantastic food, so I don't want them to think people are ungrateful ; )
not sure if someone posted already... but TAKS = Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
So, I do not plan on trying to defend any of these cake decorators, but I am a cake decorator for a grocery store, but unlike any of these cakes, my colleague and I care greatly for our cakes and make sure they are presentable.
But, working in this industry, I know that some of these mistakes could have been prevented not by the decorator but by the person taking the order. The people taking the cake orders are not the brightest, causing misspelled words on the order forms all the time. But, unlike myself, these individuals obviously didn't care enough to find out more information.
The "1st Years" cake isn't a mistake. In chemistry graduate school (at least at mine's) the first year students are referred to as the "1st Years"
Ahhhh--that TAKS test is from Texas--it's as much a joke as that cake. (not why I'm proud to be from Texas, I can assure you!) They have changed the name of the test so many times, who could keep track?
Your site constantly reminds me that I truly could make it as a cake decorator--anyone displeased with my work will be referred to your site so they'll know my work was tri-billion times better. :)
Wow that TAKS cake is so freakin' terrible. I wouldn't pay for that in a million years. I live in Texas, the state of the TAKS test and also the home of TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and SKills).
About the Hofstra cake - what is that Thing up in the upper left hand corner??!! It is just a big blot of icing? (Oh, there's icing left over - let's just plop it right here!)
As a Hofstra Alumni (Class of '84 and '88) I aM vEry aShaMeD
I'm a test coordinator in Texas. I am sending a link to this post to all my test coordinator friends!
To be a little picky, the Texas state assessment program progressed like this:
TABS-Texas Assessment of Basic Skills
TEAMS-Texas Educational (I think?) Assessment of Minimum Skills
TAAS-Texas Assessment of Academic Skills
TAKS-Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills
And they are changing it yet again, as mentioned earlier.
The TASP was an entirely different test, required for admission to public colleges and universities and teacher education programs at all colleges in Texas for a short while.
@trixie rix - first years could also refer to law school, or med school.
I think the "wreck" was not the first year so much, as the ugly cake :)
TAKS is the current state test in Taxas. As usual I got such a giggle out of the cakes, I sent a link around to my co-workers who also got a big chuckle. We wondered, what score did the wreckorater get on TAKS?
I shared this cael with oneo fmy classes and let them find the mistakes! They were aghast that anyone would expect to be paid for such work.
Thanks for this post from a teacher/cake decorator/long time reader/first time poster. It's slightly saddening but overall funny. I should post up the pictures of the cakes that we buy for the different school events. We've had some interesting ones.
Dude getting an ugly cake and putting a sign like that is just wrong... lol
Next time, someone should get a poo colored cake or a cupcake cake from Wally world and put a sign saying
"Great job Retired teachers-maybe you should've picked a prettier cake next time!"
!!!! We fans of correct grammar and spelling should definitely have our sedatives handy when viewing this site.
The extra hilarious thing about the last cake is that it was probably made to reward kids after taking the TAKS test, AKA the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, the standardized test us chilluns in Texas have to take every year to determine whether or not we can progress to the next grade.
So kids, Congratulatiun for doing and Exernplary Jabon TAKS Capitol Letter!
I have to say, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time... I will be back often.
What a fun and lighthearted site, thanks for putting a smile on my face.
The FCAT...what a huge waste of time. I can just imagine the reaction if a cake showed up at my school after the FCAT looking like that TAKS cake. I mean really, who wouldn't want to do well when the reward is something so lovely?
Hofstra's a local school; I think I'm going to go make fun of them, now (and remind everyone on my own campus to spell-check their cakes).
Wow...indeed. xx