Teacher Refuses to Give Students Desks Until They Answer Her Question—8 Hours Later, They Get a Lesson They’ll Never Forget

To many, desks in a classroom are an expectation.

To Martha Cothren, they are a privilege.

And on the first day of school in September of 2005, the social studies teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock did something to make sure her students would NEVER forget that.

Cothren, the daughter of a WWII Prisoner of War, removed every single desk from her classroom after getting permission from the superintendent, building supervisor and the principal.

So when her students walked in first period to a vacant room, needless to say, they were a little dumfounded.

“Where’s our desks?” they asked.

Mrs. Cothren simply replied, “You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn them.”

OK, they thought, “Well, maybe it’s our grades.”

“No,” she said.

Going for round two, they asked, “Maybe it’s our behavior?”

“No, it’s not even your behavior,” the teacher replied.