Stories of Impact

There were new faces in the halls and classrooms of the Lawson Building (K-12 building) and the Schaeffer Building (Pre-K classroom space) on Wednesday as the 2026-27 school year opened for Red Bird Christian School (RBCS). By the second day of class Principal Jennifer Wilder reported to the Red Bird Mission Board of Directors that 47 new students were now at RBCS. Most are coming as a result of the action taken by the board to make RBCS tuition free.

Red Bird Mission staff and volunteers working in the Schaeffer Building aren’t looking for empty trash cans and flood buckets when summer thunderstorms roll through the Red Bird River Valley thanks to a complete professional roof replacement finished this summer.

Patty Vance, Red Bird Mission School Alumna and Red Bird Christian School Elementary Teacher, goes beyond the expected to give our students opportunities leading to excellence in careers and life after graduation. One of her passions is involving our students in the 4-H Communications Competition because she knows successful people need to be effective communicators. Following is her Facebook post reporting the outcomes at this year’s 4-H Communications State Championships.

Work Camp volunteers oftentimes bring a double blessing to campus because they bring needed items from their hometown and spend four days doing home repair for someone living below the poverty line. Monday, the Wet Feet Ministries Work Camp team unloaded a trailer full of durable medical equipment like walkers and shower benches that is needed but unaffordable by people living here in the mountains.

Sue and her husband, Craig, retired back in 2008 and came down from Indiana to volunteer. She had never met me before and had no idea who my family was—she just knew me from my stories. But as we sat there talking about her very first visits here, we uncovered a little piece of history.

Seventy-five (75) people came out to the Red Bird Farmers Market Opening Day today to buy homegrown eggs, kohlrabi, cabbage, green onions, kale, new potatoes, cauliflower, cucumbers, and more from seven market vendors.

For a lot of elders in our hills, “going to the garden” used to be as normal as breathing. They were raised on beans, corn, and tomatoes they grew themselves.