Ditter43

LOVE THIS TEACHER
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 howyou 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 or 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 either that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by U. S. Veterans. Always remember them and the rights they have won for us..

Juliebelle

That made my day and made me cry. What a great lesson for all children to learn. It is so easy to take our freedom for granted until we all remember what that freedom costs.

judy363905

Exactly how this moved me... Thank and Bless our Veterans.

Judy in Phx, AZ

maryb119

What a great lesson and one I'm sure the kids will never forget.

Sunnye

Wonderful. Thanks for the "serious" story.

NatalieMacDonald

Goosebumps through the whole read. Thanks for sharing this visual reality of privelege vs. entitlement.

bearisgray

We do tend to forget how much we have - - - and how much it cost.

aronel

Just one word - Beautiful! - Thank You, my friend.

StarofMoonDancer

Amen
Amen

jeank

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp

True story, more info here. note that this was a military history class makes the point of the class to the students right away.