My Everyday Hero...Shirley Jones

Last month Tyler came home from school with a paper, It was about an essay contest and they wanted our children to write about their "Everyday Hero" Tyler expressed that he wanted to write about his hero but wanted some ideas as to who he should write about. I kind of passed it off by telling him to think about it and I would think about it too. I thought for a little bit and then got distracted and forgot all about it. A week later he came home with a Blue First PLACE ribbon and an invitation to a Reception in honor of all the First place essay winners and their heroes. I was SHOCKED! I asked him "Who did you write about?" He said "I wrote about Grandma Jones". I said "Really? What did you write about grandma?" He said "I wrote about how much I love grandma and that she teaches me to choose the right and she always does stuff for us". I thought "wow" and started tearing up. I knew my mom (grandma) would be touched and so I called her right away! I told Tim about it later in the evening and he was so excited. I found out that he had helped Tyler with coming up with the idea of writing about grandma. Tyler loves his grandma dearly and would live with her year around if he could. I think she is the main reason he misses Arizona. He is very close to my mom. I love it!



The reception was on Tuesday. It was neat. It was a district wide essay contest so there were kids there from all different schools. One child from each grade at each school won. It was neat to see that out of hundreds of kids Tyler's age, he won first place. Sadly, grandma couldn't be here for it.




They got their photo taken for the paper.

This is what the paper article says:

The Forsyth County Council of PTA’s launched a new writing program called “Honoring Our Heroes” this year. Any student enrolled at a Forsyth County school with a Parent Teacher Association was encouraged to enter an essay about their favorite hero. Local school PTA judges could then submit 6 essays to the Council. These students would then be recognized at a special reception and receive a commemorative book with all the Council essays. The students were encouraged to also invite their hero to the reception to receive a certificate and a book. Over 30 students and their heroes were recognized at the reception held at Midway Elementary school.

According to Jodie Barger, Council Coordinator, overall the students recognized family members. She said "This is one of the most rewarding positive projects I’ve worked on in awhile. The voices are fresh, honest, and truly filled with love and just reiterate all the goodness found in our community and the world. We are thrilled that these students went beyond their normal school work to enter the program and show their appreciation to a hero.” The program was well received and hopefully will be offered again next year.

The Council would also like to thank some of the cast members of “Beauty and the Beast” from West Forsyth High School for the entertainment and Midway Elementary PTA for their hospitality at the reception.