A month or so ago I had a phone call from a former student. She was doing a project for school and wanted to interview me. I answered her questions and was flattered that she had chosen me to interview. Today I got an email from her mother containing the final written part of the project. The project was on heroes. I have to share it with you because it made my day …and so that you will know that I am not a total bitch. 
Thank you Bailey for giving me permission to post your writing. You have no idea how much this means to me!
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My hero isn’t quite like anyone else. She isn’t particularly famous, nor is she very rich, but she is fabulous! My hero is a teacher, actress, mother, and role model. She is creative, beautiful, and funny. As a teacher, she is gentle but firm. If a student needed a hug, her arms were wide open. If a student required discipline, her punishing tongue was enough to put them into line. As an actress, her melodic voice is heard easily. As a mother, she is gentle, kind, loving, and, most of all, patient. As a role model, well, she’s everything and more.
Her name is Ronda Shickles.
Ronda claims that, as a child, she always did her best to be a good student. She also says that she kept up with her homework and never got into that much trouble. Ronda has stated that her hero is the fictional character Charlotte, from the book Charlotte’s Web. She likes her as a hero because she is polite, peaceful, gentle, and a good writer. She also says that Charlotte tries to do what is right, which Ronda herself always tries to do.
I remember her fondly as a great SPACE teacher. Each time I attended, we always had stimulating conversations about an array of subjects, from famous quotes to architecture. Her classroom was stocked with mind boosting activities: card games, LEGOs, and 3D puzzles among them. Thursdays; SPACE days, were my favorite part of the week.
Ronda is an experienced actress and producer. She is on the theater board for Fantasy Playhouse and Theater Huntsville. She has served as producer for The Frog Prince and the Ugly Duckling, James and the Giant Peach, and The Jungle Book, all for Fantasy Playhouse. She has performed in many plays, some of which include: King Midas and the Touch of Gold, Just So Stories, James and the Giant Peach, and The Women. She also served as assistant director for To Kill a Mockingbird, in which I played Scout. Soon Ronda will lead the Fantasy Players, a group of middle and high school students that go to different elementary schools to get youths interested in theater.
Ronda, besides teaching, acting, and producing, is also a mother. On March 13, 2006, Scout Olivia Shickles was born. Ronda expertly combines a teacher’s gentle, loving spirit and a producer’s calm authority to make herself an excellent mother. Scout is quick to learn, and because of Ronda and her husband, Steve, she is walking, talking and running better than almost all other toddlers her age. Soon Ronda will have to make her mix again, for within a few months, Penelope Anne Shickles will join their family.
Ronda is a great person, inside and out. She is smart, funny, and radiates creativity. I would love to be even halfway as nice as she is. I look forward to getting to know Scout better, and to meeting Penelope. Maybe someday a child will look up to me as I look up to her.
