[My good buddy Paul Olmstead shared this inspiring, true story =
fitting for Memorial Day]
“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 pe=
rmission of the school superintendent, the principal, and the building supe=
rvisor, she removed all the desks in her classroom. When the first period k=
ids entered the room, they discovered that there were no desks. =
‘Ms. Cothren, wh=
ere are our desks?’
She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how y=
ou earn the right to sit at a desk.’
&=
nbsp;
They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.=
‘ ‘No,’ she said.
‘Maybe it’s our behavior.’ She told them, ‘No, it’s not even yo=
ur 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 st=
arted gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had ta=
ken all the desks out of her room.
&nbs=
p;
The final period of the day came and as the pu=
zzled 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 ordinari=
ly 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 =
U.S. military veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each on=
e 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 underst=
and, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit a=
t 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 yo=
u. They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interr=
upting their careers and families so you could have the freedom you have. N=
ow, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to b=
e 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 i=
s a true story. And this teacher was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars &=
#8216;Teacher of the Year’ for her state in 2006. She is the daughter=
of a World War II P.O.W. Let us always remember the men and women of our m=
ilitary and the rights they have won for us.”
~~
Dr Bob Griffin
bob@grif.=
net www=
=2Egrif.net
"Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!"