The Friday Finish - Mountains to Battle Bots - Local Law Volunteer - People Bring Her Back - Free Walker - Floor Scrubber Funded! - Cheer All Year
- Tim Crawford
- 11 minutes ago
- 6 min read
June 19, 2026
From Mountains to Battle Bots: Clay County's STEM Explorer Camp
If you were standing outside Clay County Middle School this week, you wouldn't just hear the usual sounds of summer. Forget the cicadas, instead, you'd hear the high-tech hum of spinning gears, clicking keyboards, and lines of code coming to life. It was a week where robots took over the classrooms, and young minds tapped straight into the power of tomorrow.
From June 15-18, the folks at Rural Up hosted their STEM Explorer Camp, and let me tell you, it has been something truly special for our community.
Among the eager kids who walked through those doors every morning were three of our very own from Red Bird Christian School. Three rising 7th graders, these boys are a tight-knit bunch—classmates and best friends. One of those boys happens to be my own son, Bristol. Watching him and his two best buddies, Lucas Howard and Ashtyn Collett, tackle this week together has filled this parent’s heart with pride.
For a lot of our kids up here, sitting at a desk with a heavy textbook doesn't always tell the whole story of what they can do. Some minds are meant to see, touch, and build. This camp was a godsend for those visual, hands-on learners. Instead of just reading about the world, the boys spent their days diving headfirst into the future. They were:
Coding with Sphero robots and learning the hidden languages of computers.
Exploring Artificial Intelligence (AI) and discovering how the modern world connects.
Tackling engineering challenges that forced them to lean on one another, fostering real teamwork and homegrown creativity.
To see Red Bird students being introduced to STEM learning like this has been nothing short of wonderful. It meets them right where they are and shows them exactly what they are capable of achieving.
In our beautiful, small mountain towns, traditional jobs have kept the lights on for generations, and we take an immense amount of pride in that hard work. But the world is widening, and STEM is opening up a whole new universe of learning for our children. It’s showing them that they don't have to leave their roots behind to reach for the stars.
By teaching them these skills early, we are planting seeds for future careers in technology, engineering, and digital creation—paths we might never have dreamed of when we were their age. It gives our kids a level playing field and the confidence to say, "I can build that, too."
Now, if you ask Bristol what his favorite part was, he won't hesitate for a second. He was plumb tickled about building "battle bots." There is nothing quite like the spark in a 12-year-old boy's eyes when he gets to engineer a little machine with his own two hands and watch it come to life.
Thursday marked the final day of camp, and the excitement was real. The folks at Rural Up have invited all the parents and families to step into the school loop for a Student Showcase. We got to sit back and watch these brilliant kids receive their certificates of completion and proudly display the projects they’ve poured their hearts into all week long. They showed us what they made, explained how they solved problems, and shared a piece of the future they are building.
We are so incredibly grateful to the lead instructor, Ms. Samantha Bryant, to Kate Henson, and the whole Rural Up team for bringing this free opportunity to our neck of the woods. This week wasn't just about robots and computer code. It was about showing Bristol and his friends that no matter how deep the holler or how small the town, their dreams are big enough to fill the whole wide world.
- Kayla Smith, Development Gifts and Media
Local Law Student Volunteers
A few months ago, law students from the Notre Dame Law School came to Red Bird to volunteer at an AppalReD Legal Aid pro bono law clinic. On Monday, Scott Mew, a first year law student at Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law, drove over the mountain from his home in Pineville, Kentucky to give legal assistance to community members served by Red Bird Mission. Scott first reached out to Red Bird Mission Community Outreach Director Tracy Nolan in October inquiring when he might be able to volunteer his services through AppalReD Legal Aid to satisfy requirements for his anticipated graduation in 2028.
The People Bring Her Back
Cindy was taking a break after sorting through dozens of donated Bomba socks that will be added to backpacks distributed at next month’s Summer Family Fun Event at Red Bird Mission. She’s been coming from Casselberry, Florida for six years now because her pastor challenged her to do an “adult mission trip” at Red Bird.
She still leads those volunteer teams from Casselberry Methodist Church for week at Red Bird Mission Work Camp each year, but she’s taken a deeper dive into service at Red Bird Mission. Two years ago she was asked to come back for a few weeks to lead teams from other churches into the community for home improvement projects. A retired hospital nurse that worked in ICU, Psychiatry and heart education with AdventHealth in Orlando for 38 years, Cindy now will spend as much as an entire month each year at Red Bird helping out in Work Camp or Community Outreach.
When asked what keeps bringing her back to Red Bird to volunteer, Cindy replied without hesitation,
“The people! The people that work here are amazing. Seeing people that really do need help.
‘’The mountains, of course. The beauty of Red Bird.
“Like, I said, you see people up here that really do need help. You know, they genuinely need it. And I said, your staff is out of this world. That's what brings me back.”
A Free Walker from Red Bird
Cindy joined Tracy Nolan, Red Bird Mission Community Outreach Director, to staff a table at the Public Safety Summit hosted by the local Walmart in Manchester on Tuesday. Tracy and Cindy engaged with most of the 75 community members that passed by tables set up outside of Walmart to learn about services available to improve family health and safety as well as pick up info, free materials and supplies. Three people signed up for the Freedom From Smoking Program at Red Bird Mission that the American Lung Association funds, and one woman went away with one of the rolling walkers that had been donated for Red Bird Community Health Outreach.
Floor Scrubber Funded!
We want to say a big “Thank you” to each person stepping up to help fund the new floor scrubber. Several individuals have given over the past few weeks, and one couple finished off the remaining amount needed with a major gift last weekend to complete funding. Another major gift from the Red Bird School Alumni Association for the scrubber with the contribution from the Hot Lunch Program means school staff will be ordering the scrubber in the next few days.
When asked for comments about reaching the funding goal, Principal Jennifer Wilder said,
“A sincere thanks to those who gave!
We even got a final gift coming from a relative to purchase the cleaning solution needed for best results! What a wonderful process this was! Very uplifting!
Our custodians are thrilled!!”
Spreading Cheer All Year Long
We told you last fall about the cards being made by our participants at the Red Bird Mission DeWall Senior Center to bring cheer to nursing home residents. Their idea was to visit area nursing homes throughout the year to hand deliver the cards with a smile and warm conversation. Elderly Ministries Coordinator Tammy Adams is helping keep the cheer going throughout the year, not just at Thanksgiving and Christmas, by scheduling time to make more deliveries.
Thursday, five of the cheerful card makers from the DeWall Senior Center loaded up in a van with Tammy to brighten the day for residents at Laurel Creek Nursing Home in Manchester. Afterwards, they stopped by Dairy Queen on their way back for some sweet rewards!
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