On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed every desk from her classroom.
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.”
“Maybe it’s our behavior,” they offered.
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 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 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 U.S. Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom — each one carrying a school desk. The Veterans 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, the students began to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks must be earned.
Martha Cothren said:
This is a true story. If you doubt, go here to affirm.
- If you can read this, thank a teacher.
- If you read it in English, thank a soldier.
And the ACLU wasn’t called? Shame!
A teacher promoting responsibility, what is this world coming to? (tongue firmly planted in cheek!)
Teaching VALUES to children? why, there ought to be a law against it!!
Sadly the left will never recognize the way the American Military contributed to their freedom.
I think I will. I think I’m going to thank one of each tonight.
BWH: as, sir, shall I tonight, thankfully in the arms of my beautiful wife, in the bed my great-grandfather built, in the cabin I purchased far away from hate and discontent, in a state filled with endless beauty, ensconced within a nation of remarkable tolerance, goodness, and an experiment still in progress — an experiment envied by the bulk of this entire planet, the focus of derision, violence, envy, jealousy.
I am blessed. Tonight and every night.
BZ
i stand silently. for no words are needed. no words could teach what was taught by action. no learning greater than one found out. i stand in silence.
Dang BZ that’s about the best TRUE story I’ve heard in a long time.
Thanks for sharing this.
I do wonder why the MSM would have not aired a story like this?
Okay,
Y’all made me feel a bit guilty about my cynicism, That teacher deserves a lot of credit, as does the fine Men and Women serving in our Military. sadly such teachers are extremely rare today, even in Arkansas, which is the reason my grandkids are being homeschooled now. and young men and women of character, the kind who tend to join the Military are extremely rare these days too. now, I remember being a teenager too ya know, and a wild one at that, but my generation was nowhere near as selfish and self absorbed as this one is. the kind of character and fortitude the majority of Americans had in the ’30s ’40s and ’50s has now become a tiny minority these days. It would not surprise me to see this generation sell it’s God given freedoms for a new video game, or ipod.
I received that story in an e-mail, BZ, and tried to check it out on Snopes, but couldn’t find it. I hope that it’s true! It’s a wonderful story and I wish we had thousands of teachers with that sort of attitude. Teaching kids to be grateful to America’s military… what a concept! 🙂
Gayle: if you click the link at the bottom of the post, that takes you to the verification.
BZ
Wow!! Awesome story, all the more powerful when you find out it is indeed true. Great Find BZ!! I’ll be reading this on the radio show tomorrow.