I Don't usually post long wordy stuff...but this seems relevant...worth the read.
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 behaviour.'
She told them, 'No, it's not even your behaviour.'
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.'
