Subject: The First Day of School
>
>
> First day of school --- CONFIRMED True Story! It takes a very
> courageous and strong teacher and School Board to pull this off. If
> she starts the year this way, imagine how interesting and motivating
> her social studies classes are!
>
>>
> 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, Arkansas 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 you 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."
>
> Yes, this is a TRUE STORY..
Urban Legends Reference Pages: Veterans Return Desks
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