From: Snag_one@msn.com   
      
   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 permission of   
   the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor,   
   she removed all of the desks in her classroom. When the first period   
   kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. 'Ms.   
   Cothren, where are 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. Kids called their parents to   
   tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news   
   crews had started gathering at the school 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 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 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 uniform, 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   
   [Cothren] 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. They went   
   halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting   
   their careers and families so you could have the freedom you have. 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. And this teacher was awarded the   
   Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year for the State of Arkansas   
   in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW.   
      
   Let us always remember the men and women of our military and the rights   
   they have won for us."   
   --   
   Snag   
     Illegitimi non carborundum   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)