Alena D. Jones

• Name: Alena D. Jones

• Age: 46

• Family: Adult son, Christopher Jones, of Sacramento.

• City of residence: Yuba City

• Occupation: Teacher, Andros Karperos Middle School, Yuba City

• Hobbies, interests: I love to write and have been writing since I was a little girl.

• What brought you to the Yuba-Sutter area? I was teaching high school in Sacramento and was asked to come teach here because of my theater background.

• What keeps you in the Yuba-Sutter area? The children. I am passionate about young people and what they are involved in.

• What is the closest you’ve been to a famous person? I got to know several people who have become well-known when I was assistant director on a Sacramento production of “Waiting to Inhale.” I consider actor Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (television and movies) a friend.

• If you were granted one wish, what would you wish for? If I was a little more financially secure, I would open a children’s theater.

• Who do you most admire and why? My late mother. She taught me everything I need to know to be the best mother, best friend, best teacher and best person I could be.

• Tell us about a life-changing experience: Going to New York (this summer with friend Shawn Robinson). I could open the curtain in our hotel and look down on Ground Zero. It put me in touch with how precious life is.

• Favorite quote: “This too shall pass.”

• What was your first job? While in high school, I had a job in a youth tutoring program in Berkeley.

• What are your favorite places to go in the Yuba-Sutter area? Salad bar and ribs at the Silver Dollar Saloon in Marysville

• Do you belong to any clubs or organizations in the community? The Aspiring African American Authors Club

• What was the last good book you read? “The Color Purple”

• What is your worst fear? To leave this earth without the people I am close to knowing how much I love them.