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History
Teacher Does the Most Inspirational Thing on First Day of Class
In
September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History
teacher at
Robinson
High School
in
Little Rock
,
Arkansas
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 in 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. Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening
and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at
the school 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
desk-less 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 uniform, 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. They went halfway around the world,
giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so
you could have the freedom you have. 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.'
Then there are those football 'HEROES" who will not acknowledge our
flag. They could care less
for the brave sacrifices made by our military. Not many really mourn
when a veteran dies, do they?? And yet, when a sports figure or movie
star passes, the media
makes
sure it gets national attention.
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