"With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble.” – Mark Twain
Sadie Stewart
Student, Daughter, Sister, Friend, and Follower of Christ.
My mission is to bring people into community with each other through leading and serving with courage and compassion.
Service in Community
The MAGI Box Project
I was introduced to this project through my church, which runs a congregation-wide drive every year to gather supplies and then pack boxes. In 2022, I started running the project for my Honor Society chapter, gathering donations through my co-op and scheduling a packing day for NHS members. I then delivered the boxes to the church of Christ in Richmond which is the drop point for our region.
I learned how important it is to plan early and communicate throughout a project to ensure goals are met. This project holds a special place in my heart, as I was able to visit one of the places these boxes are delivered while on a mission trip to a border town in Texas.
Nourishing Ninjas
My church collaborated with a local elementary school for Nourishing Ninjas, a food drive project. The congregation gathered food donations, such as granola bars, pop-top soup, or fruit cups. I was responsible for scheduling a time for the NHS members to pack the bags. Each gallon-sized bag was stuffed with snacks and all 250 bags were delivered to Cougar Elementary School to feed kids living in homes with a grocery gap. They take these bags home over spring break when they can't get meals from school. This project taught me about management as I worked ahead of time with my church's secretary to take inventory, and on the day of the event, I made sure everyone had what they needed to keep the project running smoothly.
Giant Community Bags
This project was based around the reusable "community bags" sold in Giant grocery stores each month to benefit a local charity or non-profit. I collected donations at my co-op in order to purchase these bags one month. The proceeds from the sale of the bags were donated to the non-profit Legacy Impact, which hosts free ESL classes and health workshops for low-income women. All the grocery bags we purchased were donated to The Hangry Truck which is a traveling grocery store that visits low-income neighborhoods and provides fresh food and shelf-stable items to families.
I learned more about the "grocery gap" and how that affects families by touring The Hangry Truck, which drives directly to these neighborhoods and invites the residents to come onto the truck and "shop" for what they need.
Extracurriculars
Lads 2 Leaders
I have been attending the Lads 2 Leaders convention since kindergarten, participating in Songs of Praise for 12 years, Bible Bowl for 10 years, and Speech for 9 years. I love having the opportunity to see other Christian girls striving to grow in their faith and knowledge of God's Word. Lads 2 Leaders has challenged me to develop my public speaking skills, given me opportunities for serving and leadership, and taught me the importance of studying the Bible consistently. The training I've received from this program will stay with me for the rest of my life and will equip me to serve my family, church family, and those I encounter through my vocation.
National Homeschool
Honor Society
From 2022-2025, I have been a member of the Lambda Omicron chapter of the National Homeschool Honor Society. I have served as Secretary (2021-2022), Social Coordinator (2022-2023), and President (2023-2025). These roles include taking meeting notes, scheduling social events, leading our monthly meetings, finding a speaker for the meetings, encouraging/supervising my fellow officers, and leading at least one service project a year. The majority of my service work has been through Honor Society. NHS has taught me about leadership, communication, diligence, and team work.
NHS Christmas Caroling service project
My Music
I was given my first instrument at 5 years old and have been playing since. I have played ukulele for 13 years and guitar for 6 years. I have played publicly in farmers' markets as well as for volunteer roles such as entertainment at Relay for Life. In a technical sense, music has expanded my mind to better understand language and mathematics; and in a creative sense, music has been an outlet for me to enjoy expressing myself. I truly love both playing music and singing.
Some Things I'm Proud Of
Performance at church's "Sweetheart Dinner"
Volunteering with my youth group
Books & Poems that have impacted me
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The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
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The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
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Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
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Surprised by Joy by CS Lewis
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Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
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Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
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The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
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The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
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Hope is the thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson
Spending time with my favorite little people that I babysit.
(Her preschool graduation)
Mission Trip to South Texas
In 2019, my church funded a mission trip to McAllen, Texas. It was intended to be a trip for adults, but since we are homeschooled my sister and I also went. During the trip, I helped build a house for a couple living in a shed as well as helped teach women to sew.
Work Experience
From my work as a babysitter I have learned about patience and creative solutions as I spent time with kids, drove them to appointments, comforted them, and created games for them when they were bored. While working at Panera I learned more about compassion for my coworkers who all had very different beliefs from me. I was treated differently for being a Christian, which allowed me to grow in my courage to live out my faith. As a barista at Vita Nova Coffee I have learned how to efficiently multitask as I juggle taking orders, making drinks, and serving food from the kitchen. All of my jobs have helped me gain people skills, communication skills, and adaptability but most of all, I have learned that I need to be a light wherever I am and whatever I am doing.
