Good lesson to learn!

**Moor** · 09-10-2008, 08:09 PM

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're our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until y ou 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
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. Don't ever forget
it.'

By the way, this is a true story. You can verify this by
clicking on
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/nodesks.asp

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.

**Jskell911** · 09-10-2008, 08:31 PM

That is beautiful! Thanks for sharing it. True or not the sentiment certainly is.

**Moor** · 09-10-2008, 08:35 PM

I went to snopes and it is true.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 09-10-2008, 08:48 PM

That story is the most awe-inspiring thing I have seen all week long. It really is true; alot of people just seem to take their liberty and their rights for granted. They then snap back into reality when you tell them that they didn't earn it; the men and women of the Armed Forces provided it to them.

**Michelle68** · 09-10-2008, 09:35 PM

Great story!

--Michelle

**HummingbirdMO** · 09-10-2008, 09:35 PM

Beautiful story, and a wonderful lesson.

**Jamauk** · 09-10-2008, 09:41 PM

Thanks Moor for posting that! I read it for the first time just a few days ago. Its so true!

And I want to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the service men & women (both past and present) that we have here at FV. Your willing to sacrifice means the world to me and I don't go a single day without saying a small thanks to you.

**Jenna_Army_Wife** · 09-10-2008, 09:47 PM

I must say "HOOAH!"

Thank you for sharing that story.

**Moor** · 09-10-2008, 09:53 PM

Every time my dh goes up for re-enlistment, I have to stop and think about that statement.
When my son joined, I cried. Because he was only 17 when he joined!

**latierra84** · 09-10-2008, 09:53 PM

thank you so much for sharing this.

**missmanny** · 09-10-2008, 10:57 PM

great story

**Russ** · 09-11-2008, 08:53 AM

Originally Posted by Moor

Every time my dh goes up for re-enlistment, I have to stop and think about that statement.
When my son joined, I cried. Because he was only 17 when he joined!

Thanks for posting the story.

Please thank your husband and son personally for me. I greatly appreciate what they are doing.

Also thank you and the rest of your family as I know you, and they are sacrificing as well.