Give instruction to the wise and they will be still wiser; reach the righteous and they will increase in learning.
ó Proverbs 9:9
By Susan Shinn
sshinn@salisburypost.com
You can have a vision, Rhonda Stirewalt believes. You can have a dream. But that dream doesn’t come true until you see tangible evidence of its reality.
Stirewalt is watching her dream come true every day after school, as students arrive for tutoring at Happy’s Farm.
Stirewalt, who teaches sixth grade at Erwin Middle School, hosts up to 12 children a day at her Salisbury home ó an 11-acre farm named after her great-grandfather, William “Happy” Trexler.
You probably know his name because he started Happy Lake.
It’s a happy place for children who are coming to get tutoring in reading and math ó with a Western flavor.
A large pasture ringed by a wooden fence is the first thing you see when you approach the property.
It all began in 2004, when Stirewalt wrote a grant to buy a small trailer in which to make cotton candy ó another one of her projects. She used the $500 to purchase cedar siding and a tin roof.
Using math skills while doing the project worked for her students. Their end-of-grade test scores improved as a direct result.
“They were able to see these math concepts applied in a real-life application,” Stirewalt says.
That gave her an idea.
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Stirewalt’s dream of having a tutoring facility began to grow a couple of years ago when she began adding buildings.
Shulenberger’s Literary Outpost is a tiny dwelling ó just big enough for four shelves full of books and games that one child at a time can slip inside and choose a book to read. Other buildings house the saloon and Western store and a cotton candy making station. A larger trailer for cotton candy making resides at Erwin.
Tutoring begins at 4 p.m. each afternoon. Students come in 90-minute sessions until 8:30 p.m. The students work for an hour, then get to spend another 30 minutes around the farm.
“I sit down with the kids and we put down their goals and objectives,” Stirewalt says.
Once they meet their goals, they receive their reward.
Some kids like to make cotton candy, others like to ride the horses. One child is happy playing with the donkeys.
There are nine horses on the farm ó five have been donated.
Not only does Stirewalt have tutoring for a nominal fee, she offers Western-themed birthday parties and outings and school field trips.
She plans to start afterschool care this spring, and day camp this summer.
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Now back to the cotton candy.
Stirewalt has a separate building for that ó it’s 12 feet by 24 feet.
Stirewalt, as you’ve figured out by now, is a stickler for measurements.
“You might stick to the floor a little bit,” she says.
Since 2004, Stirewalt has helped churches, schools and community groups raise $14,000 through the sales of her cotton candy. She splits the proceeds with each group, and she puts her money right back into the farm.
Soon, she hopes to turn Happy’s Farm into a nonprofit organization.
“I’m trying to do all of this on my own,” Stirewalt says. “If I were able to be non-profit, I could get grant assistance to help with operational expenses.”
And all donations she receives would be tax-deductible.
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One group Stirewalt works closely with is Nazareth Children’s Home.
The seven boys in Hedrick Cottage come to volunteer. Thomas and Staci Cousar are their teaching parents.
The Cousars, who have two young children, are new to the area.
“When we saw the sign and the farm, we knew this would be a good form of volunteer work,” says the soft-spoken Cousar. “It’s been a perfect relationship.”
“They’re just ecstatic about coming here,” Staci Cousar says of the boys in her cabin, ages 13-16.
They even have their own horse, Heddy, who lives at the farm.
“It gives us time out of the house to help out,” says Brandon, 15, a freshman at East Rowan High School. “When I saw Miss Rhonda was really into it, that’s when I got serious.”
Brandon most enjoys the physical labor of breaking down trees and moving rocks and barrels.
“These kids just thrive on it,” says Paul Lucas, Nazareth’s assistant vice president of resident care. “They don’t want to leave. They certainly benefit from it and hopefully Happy Farms will benefit from them.”
One project the Nazareth kids are helping with is to build a cover for the round pen.
So far, Subway in China Grove and Rockwell Civitans have each contributed $100 toward the project. The Gamma Theta chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa has given $250.
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When the children arrive for tutoring in the afternoons, the first thing they do is head into the saloon for a snack.
Then it’s back to a room that’s decorated just like a one-room school house.
Or it could be time for reading in the Cuddle Corner in the room next door.
Houston Milette, a second-grader from Rockwell Elementary School, says his favorite part of the afternoon is snack time.
Today, he has on a coonskin cap which sets off his big, blue eyes.
Meanwhile, Madison Ward is curled up in the Cuddle Corner on a comfy horse blanket with a good book.
“We get to have snacks and we get to read,” says the bubbly second-grader from Morgan Elementary.
Some children come once or twice a week, Stirewalt says, while others visit every other week.
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Parents are pleased.
Jennifer Ward is Madison’s mom.
“She was struggling in math and her first-grade teacher recommended Rhonda,” Ward says. “Madison absolutely loves it.”
Chris Hill, a Southeast Middle sixth-grader, comes once a week for help in math. He was the second child Stirewalt tutored. He’s been coming for two years.
His favorite part?
“Cotton candy!” he says enthusiastically.
His mom, Pam, says she likes the one-on-one tutoring Stirewalt provides.
Kristen Cauble is a Faith Elementary fifth-grader who gets tutoring in math and reading.
“I guess it’s funner” than being tutored at school, she says. She likes the snacks best.Gabe Peeler, another Southeast sixth-grader, likes everything.
“The cotton candy, the horses … everything!” he says.
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You can’t have a farm without an outhouse.
Michael Meilinger built Stirewalt a working outhouse ó it’s actually very fancy with a toilet and everything ó for his Eagle Scout project.
“I didn’t want to do something average,” Meilinger says.
He certainly accomplished his goal.
Meilinger, who would like to be an engineer or an architect, says the project taught him a lot about construction.
“It was real interesting to me,” says the East Rowan senior.nnn
Stirewalt likes to tutor one on one, but works with groups in preparation for EOGs.
She tutors five days a week, sometimes on Saturdays and Sundays, too.
Stirewalt’s parents, Donald and Stella, help out around the farm.
Donald sports a big grin as he rolls his eyes and considers all his daughter’s plans.
“My immediate family members are the ones who keep me going,” she says.
You have to wonder where Stirewalt, a single parent to Suzanna, gets her energy.
“There’s a void in my life because my family’s not complete,” Stirewalt says. “These children complete it. I am scared sometimes. When the day’s over and the horses are in the stalls and my daughter is asleep, the Lord is there with me. He’s there when I wake up and start the day.
“In the still and the quiet, I feel God’s presence. He gives me that energy.”