Et cetera : We just had to ask.... V-S School Board member Megan Rickels

Megan Rickels has saved a statue of the Virgin Mary from a defiling, X-rayed an arm and a hand that were not attached to each other, and has been a member of a book club that has met monthly for eight years. She also finds time in her busy schedule as a mom with children ranging in grade level from Kindergarten to college freshman to serve on the Vinton-Shellsburg School Board, which (she may argue) is a mitigating factor in her propensity for attracting traffic citations.

But don’t take our word for it.

Below, Megan, like other V-S School Board members, answers our questions in her very own words.

Q. Is there anything that your family asks you not to cook, ever again?

A. I think the best answer to this is that we have VERY touchy smoke alarms.

Q. Is there anything your family wishes you would cook more often?

A. Leon’s, Peony’s, Koffee Haus, and Virginia Holsten’s cookies.

Q. What happens to the missing socks in the laundry?

A. I gave up. I just throw away the unmatched ones and buy new. My sanity is worth the money.

Q. Tell us about your favorite chair?

A. One that reclines so I can sleep!

Q. Funniest memory as a parent:

A. Having boys who were raised in the country, where it seems easier sometimes to use “outdoor plumbing.” I was at a Catholic Church once and in the corner of my eye I saw one of my boys about to go on the Statue of Mother Mary. I caught him just in time! I am not Catholic, but I knew that had to be frowned upon.

Q. Do you remember anything either of your parents said over and over?

A. Mom said, “You only go through life once, so you might as well go through it honestly.” Dad said, “There’s plenty of fish in the sea!”

Q. How would your own children answer the previous question?

A. “For real!”

Q. Best fast food sandwich ever?

A. Subway is about as fast as I go.

Q. What was your first job?

A. When I was seven years old; it was pricing merchandise in the basement of my dad’s Ben Franklin store.

Q. If you were to get a traffic citation it would most likely be for….

A. This one is easy. Definitely speeding. I’m usually late for everything. I actually had two tickets issued to me in a one-week time span.

Q. One place in the world you really, really wish you could visit?

A. I do not love to fly. I guess California is far enough so I can go visit my sister.

Q. First pet you remember?

A. Harvey the hamster. My sister gave it to me and then took it back. I loved that thing for three hours. Jill, I hope you read this and feel bad.

Q. Who was your favorite teacher, and why?

A. Mrs. Lyons (yes, the mother of fellow School Board member Pat Lyons). She would always tell me I was the perfect child that she wished she had had. (Sorry, Pat!)

Q. Strangest thing you did at work that was not part of your official job description?

A. I had to X-ray a man’s arm, and then had to X-ray his hand, which he had brought to the hospital in a cooler.

Q. What book or author you have not read, but should?

A. I’m in a great book club that has met every month for the past eight years. But who has time to read? It’s just a night out to eat!

And our serious question:

Q. With the building project and the budget (for now) behind you, what other issues are most important for the VS School Board?

A. Excluding budget cuts (because of which I have lost many nights’ sleep and wondered why I ever ran for school board), I have enjoyed the last several years on the board.

I can’t say enough great things about Mrs. Hainstock, our administrators, teachers, support staff and especially Larry Stroschein (board secretary) and my team of board members. Thank you for being patient – I am amazed at how much there is to learn.

We have some of the best facilities around. Now I think the focus should be on new creative ideas on learning, more technology, etc. I see that happening already with Project Lead the Way, our student job shadowing program, and our new alternative high school. Good things are happening and I would have missed out had I not gotten involved.

I did not think I would be saying this, but I would recommend serving on the school board to anyone – except for the part about the budget cuts.