I wanted to share this: On the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Valley Heights, a public school near Pittsburgh, did something not to be forgotten. On that 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. Ms.. Cothren, wherere our desks? She replied, You cant have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk. They thought, Well, maybe its our grades. No, she said. Maybe its our behavior. She told them, No, its 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.Cothrens 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 all the puzzled students from all the previous classes found seats on the floor on the edges 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 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 walked over to and stand alongside the walls. 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 didnt earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, its 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. Thank you Veterans and all those now serving our Country
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 16:24:39 +0000
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