Now this is a
Teacher! 
NOW
SHE IS A TEACHER!!! In
September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha
Cothren, a History 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 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.'
By the way, this is a true story. And this
teacher was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher
of the Year for the State of Arkansas in 2006. She is the
daughter of a WWII POW.
Do you think
this email is worth passing along so others won't forget
either, that the freedoms we have in this great country
were earned by our U.S.
Veterans? ................... I did. Let
us always remember the men and women of our military and
the rights they have won for us.
