Greetings, Twin Oaks Family! It’s unbelievable to me that the first week of April is behind us. I was talking recently with a teacher who wanted to borrow the balloon inflator we ordered to create the first-day-of-school balloon arch, and it seems like that was a few weeks ago instead of a few months ago. It’s said that time flies when you’re having fun, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year back at Twin Oaks. God has been so gracious and kind to allow me to have a front row seat to all the ways He’s been faithful to our school this year. The past couple of weeks have brought to fruition two major projects we’ve been working on-our school garden and the middle school cafe, recently dubbed ‘The Eagle Express.”
To launch our garden initiative, parents and students gathered on a warm, sunny day last month to transform what used to be a playground into a space where vegetables and flowers, planted by our students, can grow and bear fruit. I stopped working a few times to look around and take it all in-and let’s be honest, I’m not used to shoveling dirt. Watching students, parents, and staff working alongside one another was good for my soul. Students hunkered over newly tilled planting beds to search for worms and pill bugs, holding and studying them with their bare hands-pure fearlessness! Dads who had never met before fell into a rhythm, measuring, hammering, building our raised planting beds. Others dug up weeds and got to know each other better as they worked side by side. A number of seeds were planted directly into the beds, and soon seedlings that have been getting a head start in the first and third grade classrooms will be transplanted outside where they can continue to grow and bear peas, jalapenos, cabbage, and more.
But the garden is not the only thing that’s been growing here at Twin Oaks! On Friday, April 1, the middle school Eagle Express Cafe opened for the first time. When the 7th grade students presented their idea to me back in the fall, it was just that-an idea. But their perseverance, hard work, and creativity has led to a very successful start to their business. Already, it has raised over $400, some of which will go towards funding their 8th grade Washington D.C. trip next spring and part of which they voted to donate to our very own Mrs. Chan and her church, which is raising funds to improve their playground. It has been my privilege and joy to walk alongside them and watch them dream, problem solve, and push past discomfort and fears to make their dream of opening a cafe a reality. Right now the cafe is open to teachers, staff, and middle school students, but we hope to expand our menu and offerings to include more and more of our community, increasing our profits as well as our ability to bless others.
Hasn’t God been faithful? Look at what He has done! If someone would have told me last summer that we would develop a garden and open a cafe this year, I’m not sure I would have thought it possible. But God, in His infinite wisdom, opened doors at just the right time, putting just the right people and resources into place to bring these blessings to our community. And that in and of itself is a great lesson for our students-for me-for all of us to remember. He will equip us with everything good for doing His will, working in us what is pleasing to Him, to the glory of Christ Jesus. That’s something to get excited about!
