Two weeks before he was hired to take the helm at Sonrise Academy in The Dalles, Frank Sarvabui almost pitched his administrator’s certificate, thinking he would not need it anymore.
“I was going through some old paperwork and came across it. I thought, ‘I oughta just toss this out’ but for some reason I couldn’t — and it turned out to be a God thing,” he said.
Although he could have accepted the job of administrator, principal and middle school teacher at Sonrise without physically possessing the certificate, he can now display it in his office.
Sarvabui might be unknown to some students and staff at the school, but he is a familiar face around town.
About a decade ago, he was the children’s pastor at Covenant Christian in The Dalles and served as acting principal at the church’s school.
He and wife, Jana, then moved to Salem and worked at a Christian school for several years. They decided to return to The Dalles because two of their three daughters, Bethany and Kelly, live here and are raising their two granddaughters.
Their other daughter, Andrea, lives in Spokane with her husband and will soon be giving birth to their first grandson.
“We thought it would be good to come back and be closer to the family,” said Sarvabui. “I never would have imagined we’d end up here (Sonrise) so it was kind of neat that happened.”
He was working full-time in environmental services at Mid-Columbia Medical Center and serving as a children’s pastor at Life of Christ Church when he was tapped by friends to consider the Sonrise job formerly held by Scott Winters.
“I know the routine of this position, it’s been awhile but I’ve been brushing up on procedures,” said Sarvabui.
His top priority as a Christian leader is to instill in the 48 students a strong belief in God that will help them navigate the complex challenges of the adult world and give back to society.
Sonrise can take up to 60 students, ages pre-school through high school.
“We want to lay the groundwork here so that when they get older, they have a moral compass to follow — especially in a time when there seems to be no moral compass,” said Sarvabui.
After more than 30 years in the ministry and 19 in school administration, he has seen the positive effects of grounding youth in an eternal belief system.
Former students contact him about mission work, or some type of outreach they are doing to help others.
One of his former students with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) who had struggled through school recently contacted Sarvabui to share that he had become a pre-school teacher.
“He said it was all because of the tools we’d given him,” said Sarvabui. “I asked him if he was still as rambunctious as ever and he said, ‘I’m not going to quit that!”
Sarvabui wants every student at Sonrise to not only be able to pass a grade but to fully understand the concepts they are learning so that they can continue to excel, which contributes to their self-esteem.
“You can’t pass kids on without the knowledge they’ll need to make it in the next level,” he said.
Sarvabui has first-hand knowledge of how well Sonrise helps students master lessons.
His granddaughter enrolled after having difficulties in the public school and he said she is now flourishing.
Born in Pennsylvania, Sarvabui was raised primarily in Ohio, although his family lived in South America for about 18 months.
“I was too young to remember that time,” he said.
It was not Sarvabui’s initial plan to go into the ministry; in fact, he and God wrestled about his future — until he finally gave in after running into roadblocks.
“I have always felt that God had something special for me to do, but I couldn’t accept that it would be as a pastor,” he said.
“I kept telling God I was going to do it my way and I didn’t want to give in to what he was asking me to do. Finally, one day when nothing was working out, I said ‘I give up, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.’”
Once his will was submitted to God, Sarvabui said amazing things began to happen and he now feels like serving people as a Christian leader was the perfect fit.
He trained at Central Bible College in Springfield, Mo., and, two weeks after graduation in 1981, he married Jana.
They spent the next year traveling to churches in several states before settling in at Logan Assembly of God in Utah, which operated a small school with 20 students, some homeschooled.
“It was a good experience, we learned a lot,” said Sarvabui of his inaugural role as administrator.
He plans to use his extensive background to take Sonrise programs even further. For example, he once built websites and would like to see more programs to help students expand their technology capabilities.
Sonrise requires that each student set academic goals and Sarvabui wants to make sure these are realistic for each individual and they have a clear path to success.
“We want everyone here to achieve their potential,” he said.
Sarvabui describes his management style as “laid back” and said that he has found using toys as visual aids for a lesson is the best way to get younger children interested in a lesson plan.
For example, he incorporates Buzz Lightyear from the movie “Toy Story” into Bible tutorials.
“I’m still a kid at heart,” he said with a grin. “I still play with toys.”
Sonrise is located 333 E. 12th Street. For more information on its programs call 541-298-8922.
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