Friday, September 2, 2011

A lesson that should be taught in all  schools . . And colleges....
 
Back in September of 2005, on the  first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher  at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be  forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the  school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor,  she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.
 
When the  first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were  no desks.
 
'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?'
 
She  replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the  right to sit at a desk.'
 
They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our  grades.'
 
'No,' she said.
 
'Maybe it's our behavior.' 
 
She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.' 
 
And so, they came and went, the first period, second period,  third period. Still no desks in the classroom.
 
By early  afternoon television news crews had started gathering in  Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had  taken all the desks out of her room.
 
The final period of the  day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the  deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one  has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right  to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now  I am going to tell you.'
 
At this point, Martha Cothren went  over to the door of her classroom and opened it. 
 
Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked  into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began  placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and  stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the  final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for  the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those  desks had been earned..
 
Martha said, 'You didn't earn the  right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They  placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them.  It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good  citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to  get an education. Don't ever forget it.'
 
By the way, this is a true story. And this teacher was awarded Teacher of the Year for the state of Arkansas in 2006.
 
Please  consider passing this along so others won't forget that the freedoms  we have in this great country were earned by U. S. Veterans.