I stare at the teacher’s desk as I walk in class one cold winter morning

Messy desk it was, full of files and ungraded papers with no teacher attending it

While kids were talking and practically doing whatever they wanted,

The teacher was sitting on top of a desk conversing with student athletes

Every sport known to man was mentioned in their conversation

Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Football, Soccer, you name it

Sports talk was the hot topic in our classroom

Never about the Cold War or the Civil Rights Movement

Never about the Lewis and Clark expedition or Marbury v. Madison

Never even about the Korean War or Nixon's second inauguration

The teacher was just a big sports man

Not really big on history, or teaching it

So sir, may I ask you this?

How are we supposed to learn anything about history if it is not being taught to us?

Classroom chatter is always about player strategies and game statistics

What about strategies used by the U.S. army during the Vietnam War?

That could be important too

Especially when finals come closer and closer each day

I get it, talking about sports can be fun, exciting, entertaining,

But education can be too,

And good grades can be even better

So please, leave the sports talk at home

Save it for Super bowl Sunday, where it belongs

And get back to the reason why we came to school,

To get an education