You've probably never heard of Martha Rivera Alanis, but this brave, quick-thinking school teacher is my hero of the week, possibly of the month.
On Friday last week, when a drug-related shoot-out occurred right outside of her classroom in Monterrey, Mexico, she calmly told her young students to lie face-down on the floor and asked them to sing along with her until the shooting was over and the kids were safe. Because she has to make regular security and safety reports to her school board, she used her cell phone to record just over a minute of the horrifying event, and the video has gone viral, bringing Alanis praise from around the globe. She's pictured here, receiving a valor award from Nuevo Leon state governor Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz.
Though so many of us think she's a hero for keeping her students safe and distracted during this deadly shoot-out (five people on the street died), she disagrees and is quoted as saying that she isn't interested in fame or recognition, she just wanted to "show our reality." She says she wasn't being a hero, she was just doing her job, keeping her students safe.
I still say she's a hero... what do you think?