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 Bobcaygeon (north of Peterborough Ontario ,
southeast of Minden ) Public 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, (might that
be the caretaker?) 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.'
'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.
By the way, this is a true story.
Please
consider passing this along so others won't forget that the freedoms we
have in this great country were earned by War Veterans.
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