edwood Adventist Academy, a K–12 SDA school that was established in 1931, was destroyed in the Tubbs Fire in October 2017. Miraculously the school was able to stay open through the remainder of the school year by holding elementary classes in the Santa Rosa SDA Church and high school classes at Rio Lindo Adventist Academy. People throughout Pacific Union and around the country and the world sent donations of all kinds. The school received desks, textbooks, supplies, money and much more and were able to resume school only a week and a half after the fire. Continuous letters of encouragement and prayers of support have been a vital part of recovery to the staff, students, and community.

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One of the promises that was made right after the fire was that we would return to our campus again and rebuild our school. Although Redwood Adventist Academy had to reduce from a K–12 to a K–8 due to financial and physical constraints, the elementary school did return to their campus to open school up at the beginning of this school year. We were able to get modular classrooms on our campus. Teachers were scurrying around the week before school started getting their things in order. Many parents, students, and community members volunteered to help unpack everything as well as help with restoration of the campus.

One unique thing about Redwood Adventist Academy is the farm and agriculture program we had for our students before the fire. Our goal was to have a school that trained and developed the whole child. We want our students to be prepared academically for life, but to also leave our school with skills in living a healthy balanced life even after they are gone. This program was just gaining momentum before the fire hit, however, replanting our garden and farm and rebuilding the greenhouses and farm stand have been a priority. This venue has been a great way for us to interact with our community and teach values that have been part of our church from the beginning. Although recovery is a slow process, we have been blessed to see the resiliency of our students and our campus. God has blessed us above and beyond all that we could have ever imagined!

Angie Weems, M.A.

Principal
Redwood Adventist Academy

Angie Weems was born and raised in central Pennsylvania. She received her BA and MEd from Southern Adventist University. The majority of her career was spent in Columbia Union on the east coast, but she is has been the principal at Redwood Adventist Academy in Santa Rosa, CA for the past 3 years. In all of her free time she enjoys cycling, gardening, and reading.