Back in September,
on the first day of school,
Martha Cothren,
a social studies school teacher
at Bobcaygeon
(north of Peterborough, Ontario)
public school, 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.
‘Ms.. Cothren, where’re our desks?’
She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you 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) War 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.
Please consider passing this along so others won’t forget that the freedoms we have
in this great
country were earned by War Veterans.
.
.
LEST WE FORGET – WEAR A POPPY TO SHOW YOUR RESPECT ON REMEMBRANCE (VETERANS) DAY.
ON THE LEFT SIDE OF YOUR SHIRT ABOVE YOUR HEART- NEVER ON YOUR HAT OR ANYWHERE ELSE
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http://angiesgrapevine.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/martha-cothren/
ME and the Boss
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