A lesson that should be taught in all schools

And colleges Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, asocial studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock ,did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with thepermission of the school superintendent, the principal and the buildingsupervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that therewere no desks. 'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?' She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn theright 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, thirdperiod. Still no desks in the classroom. By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering inMs.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had takenall the desks out of her room. The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seatson 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 toearn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in thisclassroom. Now I am going to tell you.' At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom andopened it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into thatclassroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing theschool desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongsidethe wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in placethose kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in theirlives, 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. Theseheroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's upto you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be goodstudents, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you couldhave 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 thefreedoms we have in this great country were earned by U. S. Veterans.