A special thank-you to Christian school's teachers

May 28—ALBANY — We have a tendency to chalk the serendipity in our lives up to happenstance, to luck, to aligning stars.

Perhaps, though, we shouldn't be so quick to discount divine intervention.

It felt that way for teachers at Byne Christian School recently when the school held an end-of-year gathering for its faculty. Unbeknownst to the teachers, though, this was more than just a chips, dips and soda gathering.

A couple of months before the school year ended, administrators at the Christian school found themselves in a quandary. They encountered what some associated with the school called a "food service problem," and Byne officials were desperate for some kind of solution. That's when one of the parents at the school mentioned her friendship with restaurateur B.J. Fletcher.

"Someone who knows me told the school officials that B.J. has always been able to mobilize quickly to make things happen," Fletcher said. "I didn't know if this was something I needed to take on. They'd reached out to me for my thoughts on providing a solution on a Friday, and as we talked I asked them when they needed someone to step in and help out. They said, 'Monday.'"

And thus was born a relationship that not only helped Byne get by for the final weeks of the school year, it turned into a partnership that is bearing dividends for both parties.

Especially the school's faculty.

"I just fell in love with the school, with the kids at Byne," Fletcher said. "We see so many young people today who are just rude, disrespectful and they show none of the Christian values that I think are important to our community."

After providing and serving meals to the Byne students throughout the remainder of the school year ("The kids were thrilled to have the lunches provided by B.J.; a lot of them told their parents they didn't want to bring lunches from home anymore," Byne Headmaster Cory Wise said.), Fletcher said she was depressed by the plight of the private school's teachers.

"I talked with a lot of these folks, and several of them left much higher-paying jobs to be here," she said. "For the most part, though, they said they were happy with the trade-off."

Wanting to do something for the school, Fletcher decided to start a scholarship to help deserving families with tuition costs.

"It costs about $6,000 a year for a student to attend Byne, so I started a scholarship in that amount," Fletcher said. "Initially, I told them they could do what they wanted with it: give it to one student or break it up to help more students."

But then, Fletcher started thinking about those teachers.

"I told the school that I'd continue to give the scholarship in years to come, but I suggested — and they liked the idea — giving the teachers a bonus this first year," she said. "I think they gave two Teachers of the Year $500, gave full-time faculty a $375 bonus, and gave part-time faculty $200 each.

"They were all so thankful, so appreciative to be remembered. I just wanted it to be part of my testimony to thank these hard-working people for what they do. Being involved with Byne has become a highlight of my life."

There's little doubt that the feeling is mutual.