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 , 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) 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.' 

Africa Teach's Mission is to empower children and families of our global society with the opportunities of education, media technology, and human services.

Africa Teach empowers the children of Africa through unconditional love, support, education, and inspiration to break the cycle of poverty that shackles them to a life with limited opportunities. We base this on the view that a child is a being of body, mind, and spirit. We work to educate the whole child so that he or she grows up with vitality and initiative for the future. We help children transform their dreams into reality, by being the bridge to their right to education, opportunity, and a healthy life with dignity and hope.