how you earn the right to sit at a desk

>
> 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
> are 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
> along the side
> 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. Martha Cothren is the daughter of a WW2
> POW.

Awesome story. And just so everybody knows, it's verified true by snopes.com.

snopes.com: Veterans Return Desks

Very nice.

I have read this a few times and still enjoy it when I see it.

awesome

I always liked the e-mail, love it more now that I know it's true!

Thanks for the post.

So many more things we enjoy are tied to what veterans have done, and continue to do for us.

If that dosen't make you misty-eyed, how can you say you truly appreciate our servicemen?

Good story. Thanks.