January 5, 2000
San Marcos Academy students
rally around teacher hurt in fire
___By Shelley Henry
___San Marcos Academy
___SAN MARCOS--The evening before her apartment went up in flames and nearly took her life, San Marcos Baptist Academy teacher Stacey Herron was putting in extra hours at school. For nearly a month, Herron had been staying on campus or driving back after supper to help a group of drama students rehearse their one-act play.
___On some nights, she took a break from play practice to assist other students: selling concessions at the football games as a junior class sponsor; monitoring the hall decorationscontest at homecoming; or preparing French students for an upcoming contest. Herron is the kind of teacher who rarely stops working just because the bell has rung. If students need her, she is there for them, even if it means putting in 14-hour days.
Stacey Herron
___With her love and dedication as their example, students wasted little time when they heard Herron had been injured in the fire. This was their chance to help her, and that's what they have been doing ever since.
___The fire broke out in Herron's apartment complex in San Marcos shortly after 3 a.m. Nov. 4. Wakened by her dog, Herron found herself trapped, without an escape route from the third floor of the building. With flames licking at her back, she half fell, half jumped from her window, suffering a cracked pelvis.
___Even more serious were the burns she received on her hands, legs and back, and the damage to her lungs from smoke inhalation.
___ Rushed to the Brooke Army Medical Center Regional Burn Unit in San Antonio, Herron remained in an intensive care unit for three weeks, undergoing a tracheotomy to assist her breathing, skin grafts from her head to her hands, and other treatments for the burns that covered 18 percent of her body.
___With the worst behind her, Herron is now recuperating at her mother and stepfather's home in West Columbia, with expectations of a good recovery. She has told family and friends that she firmly believes God caught her during her fall and watched over her, or she would not have survived. While she and her dog, Fidgit, were spared, Herron did lose all of her belongings in the blaze. Even her car, parked at the complex, was destroyed.
___Members of the school drama troupe, the SMA Players, were especially hard hit by the news. As assistant director of the upcoming play, Herron had been in charge of costumes, light cues and prompting the actors with their lines.
___After sharing ideas for ways they could help Herron, the drama group decided to dedicate the performances of their play to her and to accept donations from the audience in lieu of selling tickets. The donations will be used to help Herron replace her lost belongings.
___The National Honor Society decided to "adopt" Herron as their annual Christmas project. Their fund-raising efforts will help replace Herron's household items.
___COEDS, the leadership organization comprised of all Academy girls, made and sold sausage wraps to the public at the local National Guard Armory in a fund-raiser for Herron.
___Faculty members also elected to forego giving Christmas gifts to one another, choosing instead to present Herron with a money tree. Some teachers additionally volunteered to transfer their sick days to Herron's account in case she runs out of time off. The Parent Connection at the Academy, a parent support organization, plans to give Herron a house-warming shower when she is settled into a new apartment.
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