The Friday Finish - "Once you go..." - Respect the Elderly - Preschoolers Touch 18th Century - Austin All In - Raising Caretakers - Senior Class on Coast
- Tim Crawford
- Oct 3
- 7 min read
October 3, 2025
“Once you go to Red Bird…”
Red Bird Christian School staff and some of the Senior Class stopped in Springville, Alabama on Tuesday to visit the legendary Barb Smith who taught at Red Bird for 33 years. She grew up in Robertson County, Kentucky; graduated from Asbury College; and came to Red Bird Mission School to teach Social Studies and Christian Education, coach cheerleaders, and model an exemplary Christian life for students and their families.
“Miss” Barb moved to Alabama a number of years ago to be near her son, Jeff (a Red Bird Mission School alum and a retired teacher), but she remains engaged with what’s happening in the Red Bird School Community through Bev Reitz, a former Red Bird School colleague. Jeff and his wife, Donna (who also taught at RBMS where she met Jeff), invited the Senior Class to stop for lunch on the way to Gulf Shores for the Senior Class trip. Barb quizzed the students on where they lived, their family members and news about the current school year.
Barb received the first Red Bird School Alumni Association Living Legend Award three years ago traveling with her family for Alumni Homecoming for the event. The senior class group presented a Red Bird Loyalty Song lap blanket sent by the alumni association to Miss Barb. With joy on her face and in her voice the 95-year old proclaimed how her heart is still there saying,
“Oh, how beautiful! Once you go to Red Bird, you always go to Red Bird!”
Respect for the Elderly, Openhanded toward the Poor & Needy
Leviticus 19:32 reads, “Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord…”, and Deuteronomy 15:11 directs, “I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”
What does it mean to respect our elderly that are poor today? Does respect for the elderly move us to care for their needs, especially the need for adequate food each day?
Red Bird Mission is delivering meals five days per week to 60 people that need them to maintain their health and survive. Funding reimbursement from government sources for home delivered meals ceased September 30th, doubling the amount of funds Red Bird needs to continue delivery of vital meals to low income senior citizens living in isolated areas with no transportation for some.
Caring supporters began responding to the shortfall of reimbursements in July providing the needed funds for July, August and September. With the termination of all reimbursement, Red Bird now needs to raise an additional $60,000 to continue delivering meals through December.
Will you help by giving $180, or some significant amount within your means, to cover the monthly cost of home delivered meals for one person? Please give online using the link, or mail a check to Red Bird Mission, Inc., 70 Queendale Ctr, Beverly, KY 40913 marked “Elderly Meal Delivery”?
Preschoolers Touch 18th Century History
Kayla Smith here again, your Red Bird reporter, checking in with another sweet day out with our tiny Red Bird kids. Miss Amy’s preschool class didn’t load a bus Tuesday. We laced up sneakers, thanked the perfect fall sunshine, and took a nature walk from the preschool to the Dillon Asher Pioneer House. Baggies filled with bright leaves for an upcoming project, little hands in big lines, and a steady stream of questions the whole way, it was exactly the kind of day that makes learning fun.
Built before 1800 and restored in 1968, the Pioneer House is a true Red Bird Mission (RBM) Queendale Campus gem. The log cabin belonged to Dillon Asher, a Revolutionary War captain and keeper of Kentucky’s first tollgate.
Say “Dillon Asher” around here and somebody’s gonna chime in, “he’s my great‑great grandpa.” With four wives woven into that lineage, he’s basically everybody’s papaw… mine too, 5th to be exact. The Asher tree doesn’t grow straight up, it runs like creek water. Four wives, names that echo across porches, branches looping back and braiding together. Everywhere you turn, you catch a fresh “that’s my people” story. I could tell the lore, but I’m saving that for its own post.
What matters today is the look on our tiny Red Bird kids’ faces when history felt close enough to touch. That’s why we walk. That’s why we keep traditions. So they know whose footsteps they’re following, and how to make their own sturdy ones. Taking preschoolers to the Pioneer House is a generational tradition in the RBM Early Childhood Development (ECD) program. Every year, the kids light up. Today was no different. They climbed the old wooden steps in wide‑eyed silence, then spilled into the doorway with that little gasp kids do when history becomes real.
Inside, they circled an old cooking stove and pointed at the long‑handled utensils like treasure. The fireplace and the sewing machine were instant favorites. You could see them trying to imagine a home with fire for heat, stitches for clothes, and chores measured by daylight.
Outside, the cabin had more to teach. An old water well sits by the fence, and the class gathered tight as the wooden cover lifted. They leaned in, peeking down into the dark, learning how a family used to pull up every drop they needed. The laughter was easy, the smiles were constant, and the questions kept coming:
“How deep is it?” “Who had to carry the buckets?”
Days like this matter. Our preschoolers don’t just hear stories about the past, they step right into it. They learn that their roots run deep in these hills, that hard work and creativity built homes that lasted, and that they’re part of a story that still holds. From leaf collecting on the trail to peeking into the well, every moment was hands‑on, heart‑open learning.
Thank you to Miss Amy and our RBM ECD team (Kendra Bowling, Kaley Caldwell) for keeping this tradition alive. The Pioneer House is more than a cabin. It’s a doorway to where we come from, and a good reminder of who we’re becoming.
Austin Is “All In” for Our Students
Austin came to Red Bird Christian School (RBCS) as a student without a lot of flair, but the teachers and coaches quickly learned that he was “all in” in everything he did in the classroom, basketball court, or athletic fields. He represented RBCS as a freshman by qualifying as an individual for the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Cross Country State Championships and returned to state as a senior runner for the 2019 RBCS team that won the regional cross country championship. His leadership and skills in basketball play turned heads and brought him honors in tournaments and district playoffs over his high school career.
He was one of those 2020 graduates that didn’t have the graduation dreamed of due to the COVID pandemic. The same never-quit character carried him to pursue a college education at a time when so many young adults just gave up. The family he found at Red Bird encouraged and supported him as he worked, married Kassidy (also a RBCS alum) and started a family while staying the course to get a degree in Education.
RBCS needed a social studies teacher 3 years ago, and Austin stepped in to fill that gap as he continued with his education and family responsibilities. Naturally, he got back courtside as an assistant basketball coach and just recently took on the head coach responsibilities for the high school boys basketball team. Currently, teaching middle school and high school mathematics, his specialty, his strong quiet character is a model for the boys he teaches and coaches. Austin is another RBCS Cardinal alum making an impact in the world serving at Red Bird Christian School.
Outdoor Classroom Raising Caretakers
Kayla Smith here, your Red Bird reporter, bringing you the good news straight from Big Double Park in Clay County. I tagged along on the 4-H Field Day with my son because I’m a nature girly through and through. If there’s a classroom with a better ceiling than the sky, I haven’t found it yet. So consider this the field notes from a mom with a camera, a heart for these hills, and a front-row seat to kids learning how to love the land that raised them.
On Wednesday, October 1st, Grades 2nd through 6th pulled up to the park in the Daniel Boone National Forest Redbird District and it was like the hills themselves said,
“Alright kids, pay attention, I’ve got something to teach you.”
Our students moved station to station with muddy shoes and big eyes, and I watched wonder land on their shoulders like a butterfly.
Good life choices wrapped the day like a porch light. Decisions, values, the kind of person you’re building when no one’s grading you. I watched our students listen and I thought about my own kids. We’re not just raising scholars; we’re raising caretakers - of themselves, each other, and this place we love.
Big Double gave us more than lessons. It reminded us who we are. Appalachia isn’t just where we live. It’s the story we’re choosing to carry on. Thank you to the Clay County Extension Office for pouring so much into our kids, and for believing that outdoor classrooms grow the best kind of leaders. From this nature girl and mom, from our Red Bird crew, from a community that loves its hills and hollers, we’re grateful. Let’s keep tending this place like it tends us.
Senior Class on the Coast
A couple of them have been together launching their education as preschoolers in Red Bird Mission Early Childhood Development together, and others have joined them along the way. Ultimately, twelve Red Bird Christian School Seniors are on the path towards becoming alumni in May. The group has worked together to fundraise for the past four years to celebrate their accomplishments and friendship in the classic senior trip experience.
While most RBCS senior classes like the spring trip to mark their final year in high school, this year’s class made their major trip this week with a trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama. Going to a popular beach destination during the “off peak” tourist season has provided the group with easy access to the beach and attractions. Another benefit has been fewer people distractions that has made the time together a time to strengthen their bonds as future Red Bird Cardinal alumni before the hectic spring days prior to graduation.
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