What a Teacher!

The following story often circulates and was drawn from former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee’s March 2, 2007 address to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D. C.  That speech recounted events from the first day of classes in the fall of 2005 for students enrolled in Martha Cothren’s military history class at Joe T. Robinson High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Students in that class that day recount that this story has been embellished by many, that the number of veterans wasn’t correct and that they weren’t in uniform; but this reporter thinks that the moral is astounding!

On this first day of school, with the permission of the school Superintendent, the Principal and the Building Supervisor, Martha Cothren removed all of the desks in her classroom.  When the first period students 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 replied.

“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 crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her classroom.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom, Ms. 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, she went over to the classroom door and opened it. Twenty-seven 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 walked over to stand by 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.  Remember, this was a military history class.

Ms. 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, and to be good citizens.  They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education.  Don’t ever forget it.”

This teacher was awarded 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!