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An English teacher was fired from a $5,700-a-year private Muslim school in New York after she told third graders that Adam and Eve were 'not real' and showed them a naked painting of the first couple.

Nina Kossman's comment to students at the Razi School in Woodside, Queens, angered parents when she told their children that the story of the first couple was just a 'myth', according to the New York Post. 

She also showed the children a nude painting of Adam and Eve by 17th-Century artist Paul Rubens.

 

 

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English teacher, Nina Kossman (pictured), was fired from a private Muslim school in New York after she told third graders that Adam and Eve were 'not real' and showed them a naked painting of the first couple

 

 

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Kossman's comment to students at the Razi School in Woodside, Queens, angered parents when she told their children that the story of the first couple was just a 'myth'. She also showed the children a nude painting (pictured) of Adam and Eve by 17th-Century artist Paul Rubens

Kossman told the Post that she committed the sin of 'telling the truth' while at the school the pre-K-to-12 school, which charges tuition of $5,500 to $5,700 a year.​

Imani Al-Amin, an assistant to the principal, reportedly told Kossman that the next day, a group of infuriated parents showed up at the school to complain that Kossman 'discussed Jews with them and showed them pictures of naked people'.

'The parents were in shock, in a fury,' the assistant said, according to Kossman. 'You have to understand that this is a different environment.' 

Kossman noted that Judaism, Christianity and Islam share the myth, thinking it would 'help build up tolerance' for other faiths, according to the Post. 

The incident took place as the children prepared for class and were talking amongst one another. 

'One girl was trying to say that girls are as important as boys because without women there would not be any men,' Kossman said.

 

 

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Imani Al-Amin, an assistant to the principal, reportedly told Kossman (pictured) that the next day, a group of infuriated parents showed up at the school to complain that Kossman 'discussed Jews with them and showed them pictures of naked people'

 

 

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Last week, Kossman was sent to a Department of Education (DOE) office in Queens that's used for educators facing discipline. The DOE said Kossman (pictured) is currently under investigation

The girl turned to Kossman: 'Teacher, all people are born from a woman's belly, right?'

Kossman said she agreed with the child, but then a little boy jumped in the conversation. He said: 'One person was not born from a woman's belly, Adam!' 

'It's just a story, a myth. It's not real,' Kossman replied. But the little boy disagreed saying: 'Adam is not a story! He is real!'

When the children still didn't believe her, she pulled up the Wikipedia page for Adam and Eve on her laptop, which is when the nude painting of the couple popped up. 

The children then exclaimed: 'We're not allowed to look at naked people!'

 

 

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Kossman said she's never gotten in trouble before and since 1991, the DOE has sent her to 20 religious schools. In September 2014, she was assigned to Razi (pictured), where she teaches English as a second language to students who speak Urdu, Bengali, Farsi & Arabic at home

Kossman told the Post that she covered the photo with her hand while she read the excerpt form Wikipedia, which said that Adam and Eve is a 'creation myth' of the three religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. 

She said she's never gotten in trouble before and since 1991, the Department of Education (DOE) has sent her to about 20 religious schools. 

In September 2014, she was assigned to Razi, where she teaches English as a second language to students who speak Urdu, Bengali, Farsi and Arabic at home, according to the Post.

'It's generally understood that we should not talk about religion to students,' she told the Post. 'I probably should have avoided talking about it.'

Last week, Kossman was sent to a DOE office in Queens that's used for educators facing discipline. The DOE said Kossman is currently under investigation, according to the Post.