In the early 1990s when Aledo School Board member Rhonda Torres would meet with Superintendent Willard Stuard in a little white house that stood in front of what is now Aledo Middle School, her young daughter Niki would sit on the floor, playing with toys Stuard kept in a basket for just such occasions.
The little white house served as the Aledo ISD Administration building, and when the two met there they probably never thought that Stuard would one day have a school named after him, and Torres would set in motion an annual event that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help families hit with catastrophic medical expenses.
In the years before those meetings in the little white house, and in the years since, Rhonda Torres has devoted her life to education in the classroom, on the school board, and as a life example.
“When we moved out here, it was very small, and I wanted to see if I could make a difference,” Rhonda said.
In what would perhaps become a life pattern, she put together a group of women who went door-to-door to campaign for her race for school board — and she won convincingly.
During her 15 years on the school board (1984-1999), which included terms as secretary, vice president, and president, Rhonda said she learned a lot.
“I think everybody should serve in community service,” she said. “It taught me that the people that sit on the other side of the table actually are making decisions that you don’t have the full information on. So, it’s taught me to respect people that are making decisions because I might not know everything.”
Sitting on the other side of the table gives you a new perspective, she added.
The school board in those early years usually met in a school cafeteria, and were not nearly so structured as they are today.
“I look at board meetings now — how professional they run their board meeting,” she said. “We were Wild, Wild West. We’d meet in the Bearcat Den. And if it was taxes or anything, they’d yell out from the audience and say things, but it was good, because everybody has a voice and you should respect their voices.
“It was a little different atmosphere then, as compared to now, but the issues are really the same. It was growth, it was pay, getting qualified teachers. But I’ll tell you one thing, Aledo always did a good job of getting quality teachers. We still do.”
Before a 40-year career at Weatherford College, Rhonda started her journey there as a student before moving on to Texas Women’s University, where she received a B.A. of Education, Minor in English in 1976, and an M.A. in Education with a Specialization in Reading in 1979.
She began her teaching career in Bridgeport, where she took on the task of educating developmentally-challenged students.
It was a task she took on with relish, accepting a challenge few would want.
“I always thought that anybody can teach kids who know how to learn,” Rhonda said. “If I have a class of people that are learners and know how to do it independently, all I have to do is guide them. The real people that need the teachers are those who don’t know how to learn. And that’s where I started my career, working with developmental students.”
Rhonda took those skills to Weatherford College in 1983, where she was an adjunct faculty member in developmental reading/writing for about seven years. She became a full faculty member in 1990.
“I worked with developmental all my career, and always took pride in that,” she said. “I’ve had, the best career I could ever have, and all of it is the people I work with, my colleagues, the students number one, the people you help along the way. It’s very rewarding to see someone come in that maybe had an addiction, and they’re wanting to turn their lives around, and somebody that has a learning disability, and you show them the light. That’s what it’s all about.”
She described Weatherford College as a “little bitty place” when she arrived there. Most recently, under the leadership of President Tod Allen Farmer, she said Weatherford College has come into its own.
“Dr. Farmer has really opened the door to progress, and we’ve just grown in every aspect. We have bachelor programs. We have world-class dorm facilities. We have excellent athletics. We excel in every area,” she said. “When you get a bachelor’s degree at Weatherford, you pay community college prices.”
She also pointed out that Weatherford College now has top-tier nursing and medical programs.
Rhonda moved into the role of director of developmental reading and writing from 1997-1998, and then served as associate dean of instructional support in 1998-1999. She became dean of education and instructional support in 2001, a position she served in until her retirement last year.
Farmer said “As both a Weatherford College educator and an Aledo ISD trustee, Rhonda clearly understood the value of education in our society. She had a profoundly positive impact on the students and institutions of Parker County and the surrounding area.”
In addition to her official role as educator, Rhonda has also spent her life teaching through word and deed, using her examples of service, her giving to the community, and her faith in the face of adversity.
In addition to her tenure on the school board, Rhonda’s community service has included being the chairperson of the Texas Association of Developmental Educators, scholarship chairperson and scholarship committee member for the Aledo Children’s AdvoCats, Center of Hope Campaign board member, executive director of the Aledo Thanksgiving Trot, and executive secretary and board member of the East Parker County Chamber of Commerce.
Early on Rhonda discovered Aledo United Methodist Church, where she and husband Leonard have attended and served for years.
There is a core group of women in that church, of which Rhonda is a member, affectionally known as the “Aledo Mafia.” When there is service to be done, Rhonda and women like Sharlyn Poe, Rhonda Ray, Sally Bond, Marsha Ancona, and a host of others jump in whenever there is a need.
They sold cookbooks for the church, they helped prepare food, and did the things that groups of women all over the world do for their churches.
Rhonda was quick to point out that she and her peers at the church were not the first.
“We rode on the backs of a lot of people like Nelda McGlinchy,” Rhonda said. “It’s been a blessing to be a member of that church.”
About 13 years ago, Rhonda and her son, Josh, hatched an idea to hold a 5k race on Thanksgiving morning to assist a family that was hit with catastrophic medical costs. Families who experience such situations not only deal with massive medical bills, but at the same time experience loss of income from work for one or perhaps two wage earners in a family.
The Aledo Mafia was quick to jump on board, and in 2011 the inaugural Aledo Thanksgiving Trot was held at Rhonda and Leonard’s house. Proceeds from the race benefited Marcia Walters, who had recently had a lung transplant.
In the annual running of this event, the recipient family one year tends to jump in and help the following year, and Walters did just that, helping shape future races. Recently the race was renamed the Marcia Walters Memorial Thanksgiving Trot in her memory.
The race, which outgrew Rhonda’s house, now launches from Tim Buchanan Stadium each year, and typically hosts 3,000 runners or more — people who are willing to get up early on a holiday morning and go run a 5k to benefit someone they might not even know.
And while the recipients are always thankful, Rhonda said “The blessing is ours - we’re blessed to live in a great community that supports good causes!”
In recent years Rhonda has faced a Parkinson’s Disease, a chronic and progressive neurological disorder.
“It’s a very humbling disease, because you have to depend on other people,” Rhonda said. “It affects my speech, my walking, my talking. You know, it just kind of slows you down. They say Parkinson’s doesn’t kill you. It’s like if you get pneumonia or something like that. But I’m not gonna die anytime soon.”
Despite the disease, Rhonda wakes up each day finding something to be grateful for.
“Before, I thought all I did, that I did it,” Rhonda said. “I didn’t do it. God did all of it. He really did it. It made me more aware of that, and God is the person, and I don’t fear it, because I know that God is going to be with me throughout it. So why do you fear it? He’s not going to let you go.”
Rhonda does not subscribe to the “Why me?” syndrome.
“Why not me?” Rhonda said. “Marcia Walters used to say, ‘Why not me?’ You know, do I want Niki to have it? No.
“It’s very humbling, and it’s taught me — I’m more compassionate, I’m more grateful. So, I have to say that it’s not all bad. I just trust God. I trust him. He’s gonna see me through it. And if you can have that trust and develop that trust, then you don’t have to worry about it. There you go. I don’t have any fear, and that’s a peaceful place to be.”
In the midst of the Parkinson’s battle, a few years ago Rhonda developed breast cancer.
“The whole time I was upset about it. I was crying about it,” Niki said. “Not one time did she (Rhonda) say anything about it. She did, but she just said He (God) had it all.”
“The minute I was diagnosed, I thought, ‘I can’t carry this burden by myself along with Parkinson’s’” Rhonda said. “I said, ‘God, take it from me.’ And I never worried about it. I never was concerned about it from that point on. So, I think it deepened my faith. I’ve always had a strong faith, but it really became real. It made my faith real to me.”
Faith doesn’t always make the mechanics of day-to-day life easier for you - that is what Leonard is for.
“It’s hard to have your independence taken away from you. But I’m so lucky — Leonard — we say we’re living our marriage vows,” Rhonda said. “He’s wonderful. He takes great care of me. Now we still disagree and argue about some things like the black-eyed peas he’s cooking. I’m still gonna try to tell him about it.”
It was pointed out that you wouldn’t be married if you didn’t argue, to which Niki added, “and you wouldn’t be Rhonda if you didn’t try to tell him.”
The faith Rhonda leans on is the faith she has lived out in her life. She has, in a very real way, spent her life casting her bread upon the water.
“Mom used to get the bulletins from church, and on the back, there would be a list of concerns, prayers,” Niki said. “And she would circle people. And then that week, you would find cards that she had written. She might not know these people, but she had gotten an address, and she would send them cards.”
She now has stacks of cards she has received, mainly from members of her church family.
While she doesn’t see an imminent end of things, there does come a time when you realize you are probably in the fourth quarter.
It’s caused us (the family) to talk about all things we would never talk about,” Rhonda said. “The kids have had a chance to ask me questions. I’ve had a chance to tell them things. And one thing I told him, I said, ‘Don’t cry at my funeral. Go play pickleball. Because I’m gonna be playing pickleball in heaven, and that’s how I feel about it. Life is just to prepare us for the bigger life, the everlasting life”
Niki reflected on her mother’s illness this way.
“Hard things like this in life will refine you if you will let it, but you have to let it. And if you sit around and you’re sad about it all the time, it doesn’t help. I think about my kids, and I think about mom, and I think about how the only thing we can control is what you give to other people and what you leave them with. Mom has a sign in her laundry room, and it says, ‘What you do for yourself dies with you, what you do for others lives for eternity.’”
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