Post by Chaindriven on Jul 29, 2009 16:46:14 GMT -6
They paid the price!
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 are 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 class-
room, 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.'
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.
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 are 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 class-
room, 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.'
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.