Lest we forget...........
A lesson that should be taught in all schools . . And colleges
Back in September, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social
studies school teacher at Robinson High School, 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) War 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.
Please consider passing this along so others won't forget that the freedoms
we have in this great country were earned by War Veterans.