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.'
The Journey of Africa Teach
Friday, April 20, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
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.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Check out our new Africa Teach Foundation Facebook page! We'll be posting often, so feel free to "like" us, and you'll stay up to date on our progress and our mission!
http://facebook.com/AfricaTeachFoundation
http://facebook.com/AfricaTeachFoundation
We've got t-shirts!!!
Check out our fundraising tees! All proceeds go towards building schools in Africa!
http://africateach.spreadshirt.com/
Check out our fundraising tees! All proceeds go towards building schools in Africa!
http://africateach.spreadshirt.com/
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