On the first day of school, a teacher did something not to be forgotten...
On the first day of school, 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.
"Where are our desks?", the students inquired.
The teacher 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.
"Is it our behaviour?"
She told them, "No, it's not even your behaviour."
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 the teacher'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, the teacher 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, the teacher went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.
Twenty-seven (27) war 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..
The teacher 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."
I'm sorry if anyone considers these images or the act of taking pictures at these Remembrance Day ceremonies disrespectful.
My actions and intentions are in fact, exactly the opposite. It is my way of paying respect by documenting the event and hopefully capturing it's meaning within the images.
There were many people with cameras of all types there. I'm not saying this means that my capturing images must be OK by association, only that I was not alone. It's OK with me, my 3 uncles and one grandfather who were vets and their immediate family members (whom I also share these pictures with).
As far as the crowd there today, I'm not sure. I know that it was OK with one family at least. I had never met them before. They pounced on me and my camera to quickly, quickly take a picture of their son who was just to appear on the big screen laying a wreath in honor of his friend and battalion mate who had given the ultimate sacrifice.
KC4, I did not mean to say that your pics were disrespectful in any way. I know that you are a fine person, and a great picture taker. I was just saying that it is not considered to be something that is looked upon favorably here in St.John's. Each year I see fewer and fewer real cameras at our National War Memorial. Paix, mon amie.
__________________
Dr.G.
14" G4 iBook
15" MacBook Pro (July, 2009)
13" MacBooK Pro with Retina Display
Paix
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
On the first day of school, a teacher did something not to be forgotten...
On the first day of school, 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.
"Where are our desks?", the students inquired.
The teacher 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.
"Is it our behaviour?"
She told them, "No, it's not even your behaviour."
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 the teacher'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, the teacher 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, the teacher went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.
Twenty-seven (27) war 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..
The teacher 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."
A great story. Paix, mon ami.
__________________
Dr.G.
14" G4 iBook
15" MacBook Pro (July, 2009)
13" MacBooK Pro with Retina Display
Paix
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
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