A new sign hangs in the Rogue Valley Adventist Academy gymnasium after an unlikely encounter during a recent historic snowfall. During the first week of February 2025, the Medford, Oregon, area experienced the seventh-largest 24-hour accumulation of snow on record.
“As a school leader and principal, big weather events can be a challenge,” shared Brad Bennett, RVAA principal. “This event hit right in the middle of a school day. Traditionally, it warms up enough, and other schools were staying open that day, but snow kept falling and we had to dismiss early."
In the wet and heavy snow, Bennett spent the last hour and a half of the day making sure vehicles could come and go as parents picked up students. "We survived unscathed, but when we started thinking bigger picture about the coming days, we thought, ‘How are we going to clear this driveway and parking lot to make them accessible? We don’t have the kinds of maintenance and shoveling crews that the public school district has,'" recalled Bennett.
Some time later, Mike Glasgow, RVAA maintenance worker, was headed to a routine medical appointment when he noticed a tractor plowing the parking lot of the medical building. He immediately thought of the school. Glasgow called Bennett and asked, "Do we need to hire someone to clear our driveway?"
“I knew we did because we'd attempted to do it ourselves and hadn’t made a lot of headway. We'd probably accumulated a foot of snow over two days and our work had already disappeared," said Bennett.
Glasgow talked with the man plowing the parking lot of the medical building, and later that day they arrived at RVAA with their tractors. "In no time, they'd taken care of our drive and the parking lot for Valley View Church, too! It was just such a miraculous way that God made that connection for us," Bennett said.
After the crew finished plowing the parking lot, they connected with Bennett. “The man told me they would normally charge close to $1,000 for the work they did,” shared a grateful Bennett, “but he said, ‘We’re not going to charge you. The only thing we ask is enough money to pay for the fuel we used.’ The total was around $200."
"We were excited to share the story," said Bennett. "In our gym, we have areas for business advertising that help fund our sports programs, and we’re going to give them a free spot as a thank you for their help,” said Bennett. “Even though our little private school doesn’t have the laborers for something like this, God found a way to send them to us right when we needed them.”
A local plow crew generously works at RVAA for only the cost of fuel.
