Something Not to Be Forgotten!

[Judy Harder]

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.
>
> Looking around, confused, they asked, 'Ms. Cothren, where're our
desks?'
>
> She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me what you
have done to 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. You can verify this by clicking on
> http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp
>
> God Bless America - and Our Veterans
>
> What Is A Veteran?
>
> A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or
reserve is?someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made
payable to?'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to,
and including his?life.'
>
> That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today who
no longer understand that fact.
>