By Jeanne Acton
If you missed the UIL Academic State Meet this year, you missed something special. If you asked the teenage girls, that something special was 27-year-old Jared Padalecki, star of Supernatural and former regular on Gilmore Girls. He was our feature speaker this year.
Rather than attempt to describe his looks in detail. After all, I am pushing 40 and don’t want you to think I’m a cougar, so I’ll simply state the facts. He is tall. He is lean and muscular, and he is tanned.

Not surprisingly, he’s been selected to two or three “sexiest celebrity” lists. The girls and several of the advisers and a couple of the judges went all jello over him. In fact, he was so intimidating that I wasn’t sure if any student was going to snap out of the star-struck state to ask a question. Luckily, Jared is an easy-going guy, and he quickly put the crowd at ease.

After a few moments of awkward silence, a girl raised her hand, asked a question, and Jared answered it in the most non-threatening, self-deprecating manner imaginable. And so another hand shot up, and then another, and soon, the students found their groove and lost their inhibitions and got around to the task at hand.

As impressed as I was with Jared, I was more impressed with something else that day. I don’t mean to belittle him, and I hope I don’t appear ungrateful. He did a fantastic job, and I am pretty sure he made the trip to Austin for the students — even those who didn’t place — well worthwhile. But what I found to be truly special was watching Jared’s mother during his interview.

While the girls in the room followed Jared’s every twitch, twist and turn, I watched his mother, Sherri Padalecki, the award-winning journalism adviser from East Central High School, beaming with pride as he answered the questions politely, candidly and openly.

Jared made two things abundantly clear during the interview. He wasn’t a party boy living the wild life in Hollywood, and he wasn’t going to be seduced by fame and fortune. He is still a Texas guy who understands the importance of family and friends, and he spent a good deal of the interview talking about just that very thing.

And as Jared kept returning to this mantra during the interview, I watched Sherri. She glowed. She really glowed.

I can’t say I expected such a down-to-earth, no-nonsense guy when Sherri confirmed that Jared agreed to do the interview. Frankly, I half expected an egotistic, name-dropping, Hollywood stud.

But instead, the students were treated to a sweet, family-oriented guy who just happened to be one of TV’s sexiest stars.

When the interview was done, everyone in room knew that Jared was much more than a Hollywood stud.

Of course, I suspect Sherri knew that already.

I am sure she was already well-aware of the type of person her son was. After all, she and her husband are the ones who raised him. They gave him a solid foundation and strong convictions long before he became a TV star and teen heartthrob.

And that’s something Jared hasn’t forgotten. He didn’t drop a lot of names during his interview. He told the contestants to follow their passions and never forget where they came from. He really shined at state, not because he was some hunky star (which he is), but because he is a sincere, respectful, humble young man, the kind of son any mother would be proud of whether he’s a celebrity or a candy-store clerk.

I jokingly called Sherri, “Proud Mama” at the State Meet, and today I call her that again. But I am not kidding this time. I’m sincere and in awe.

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