Rest with Purpose

Rockin’ R Retreat a place for learning, wellness

By AMY ROGNLIE | Photos by BECKY STINEHOUR

Nestled on 13 acres just outside of Temple, Rockin’ R Retreat and Event Center is more than a peaceful getaway — it’s a movement. Founded in 2021 by Doree Collins and her family, Rockin’ R was created as both a wellness destination and a sustainable funding source for Cultivate Academy-CTX, a micro-school dedicated to leadership, agriculture and wellness.

“Rockin’ R is more than just a retreat space — it’s a vehicle for educational equity and community wellness,” Collins shared.

From family reunions to leadership workshops, healing retreats to crafting weekends, Rockin’ R offers space for gatherings of all kinds. Over the past year alone, it has hosted everyone from church teams to artists, scrapbookers, quilters, writers and photographers. With a full-service kitchen and meeting areas all under one roof, guests can relax and create without ever stepping outside of the cozy and convenient venue. There’s no need to brave the elements to catch a quick nap, take a shower or grab something from one of the nine bedrooms. And best of all, the proceeds from Rockin’ R help fund Cultivate Academy-CTX.

“Every event booked at Rockin’ R directly supports students and families at Cultivate Academy-CTX by helping us keep tuition affordable as we offer holistic programming in wellness, agriculture, entrepreneurship and literacy,” Collins said. “Your retreat fuels a movement.”

Collins is proud that in just the last year, revenue from the venue has helped subsidize tuition for more than 25 students at Cultivate Academy-CTX, support 10 youth leaders through paid training and market leadership, and host more than 50 family, church and professional retreat guests, all of whom indirectly support their mission.

True to her passion, Collins is already planning to prepare the land surrounding the retreat facility for farming. Planting acres of sunflowers will be the first step in the process of establishing a balanced ecosystem in the soil, paving the way for food crops in the future. In addition, blueprints have been drawn up for the new Cultivate Academy facility to be located there. The new school building will include a basketball court, community kitchen and dining room, a microgreen growing room, four smaller test kitchens, and of course, classrooms.

“We invite anyone who wants to rest with purpose, host events that matter, or invest in the next generation to visit Rockin’ R. Your booking helps keep kids learning, families thriving, and local food growing,” Collins said. “We also welcome volunteers and partners who want to join us in creating sustainable systems for education, wellness and entrepreneurship.”

The retreat’s proceeds fuel Cultivate Academy-CTX, now in its fourth year. Students — known as “pioneers” — study core academics through the lens of sustainability and purpose. Built on three pillars — urban agriculture, entrepreneurship, and leadership — the Academy incorporates family businesses and real-world enterprises into everyday learning. The “pioneers” learn core academics like math, English, and history, but always through a lens of wellness, purpose, and sustainability. The Academy also integrates family businesses and community enterprises into its structure, making real-world entrepreneurship part of the daily school process. Collins’ high school sweetheart and now husband, Travis, a registered nurse, teaches anatomy and chess. Their children and close partners also contribute directly, ensuring Cultivate is a family-driven ecosystem.

“It’s been a family thing,” the busy mother of four — and sometimes lead singer of their family band, The Collins Crew — added. “We came into the world of entrepreneurship together. Our kids have learned so much about management, marketing and the service industry through this new venture.”

Cultivate Academy is also recognized by Texas A&M Agrilife as a “Healthy School Recognized Campus,” which is a pretty big deal. In keeping with its healthy mission, the school has a certified kitchen where students learn to prepare the food they grow.

Diagnosed with Lupus several years ago, Collins has radically changed her eating habits and ideas about food and is now off all medication and living a healthy life.

She is on a mission to spread health and nutrition awareness to the next generation by teaching them about whole foods to impart an intrinsic motivation for the students to eat for their health. At the school, the students tend a garden outside, grow microgreens inside, and learn how to make their own healthy lunches with what they have grown themselves. They also spend some of their time at the UIC’s Urban Farm, building and tending gardens. Throughout the school year, students sell their microgreens as well as delicious homemade soups, hummus and salsa to the community.

“We have watched habits change,” Collins said proudly. “Kids who came in hating vegetables now have ownership in the process of growing them and preparing them. They end up loving veggies and even preferring them to other foods. We are helping to prevent obesity and illness, and I can’t wait to see what this generation will look like in the next 10-15 years.”

As a member of the Breakfast Lions Club of Temple, a member of the National Association of Black Social Workers, Inc., a Silver Lifetime member of the NAACP and an active member of the Bell County Hunger Coalition, among others, Collins has been a big influence on the Bell County community for more than 20 years, and it appears that the next 20 will hold bigger and better things. A certified educator, Collins transitioned from the educational platform to the nonprofit sphere once she collaborated with Garfield and Bethany Hawk, the founders of the Un-Included Club, which has been serving the central Texas area since 2009.

“I joined the organization to support the vision and mission of the Un-Included Club, which is to be un-included from illiteracy, childhood obesity, and giving up,” she said. “The goal is to provide positive programming to help everyone remain un-included from habits and lifestyles that lead to un-wellness in ourselves, our families, and our community.”

Out of that vision grew Cultivate Academy-CTX, which intertwines student learning with the growth of small businesses launched through Un-Included’s Micro-Enterprise program. These businesses are not only entrepreneurial ventures but also practical supports for the school community.

Take Dayla Collins, a college student and state study teacher at Cultivate, and Brice Smiley, a long-time youth leader. They co-founded D&B Tidy Duo. Their cleaning business specializes in natural, agriculture-based cleaning supplies.

At Cultivate Academy-CTX and Rockin’ R Retreats, the students’ products keep classrooms and gathering spaces safe, healthy, and environmentally friendly. Through this small business and others that have been birthed out of UIC and Cultivate, the students see firsthand how entrepreneurship and sustainability connect.

Janice Cody, one of the first recipients of the Un-Included Club’s Micro-Enterprise Program, funded in 2023 by a grant from the City of Temple, now teaches students how to make their own safe, natural skin and hair products, while explaining the health and benefits of the ingredients. Cody is the founder of Express Your Beauty, a business that creates natural skin and hair products using raw shea butter and essential oils, showing the “pioneers” that agriculture doesn’t stop at food — it extends into skincare, beauty, and holistic wellness.

Collins’ influence on urban agriculture is not limited to Cultivate Academy. After one year with Un-Included Club, Collins secured a 7-acre USDA land grant at Blackland Research Center, which then expanded into the homes of their families with the micro-green process and finally developed the 7-acre Un-Included Club Urban Farm located in East Temple. UIC’s other Urban Agriculture project includes the Mainstreet Community Garden located on Main Street in Temple.

The organization sells the microgreens that they grow at Treno’s Pizzeria and Taproom as well as Cha Community, both in downtown Temple. They have also published a cookbook on the microgreen growing process.

“The Farm” as Collins calls it, is not only a community garden, but also hosts chickens and a hydroponic system for growing sunflower microgreens. Collins has recently presented an ambitious expansion plan to the city of Temple for improvements to the farm that will pave the way for more active community involvement. In addition, several lots in East Temple were recently donated for more community gardens. The produce from the gardens is shared with the local community through the Community Supported Agriculture program.

“When I left public education to start work at Un-Included Club, I knew it was time for me to step out on faith. I was called to something different and I did a lot of praying,” Collins said. “I’m still educating — just in a different way and with a different purpose. Reaching this 10-year milestone means so much, because it shows what faith, family and community can build together.”

On Nov. 1, the Collins family will host a gala fundraiser at Rockin’ R to support these next steps.

“I just call the past 10 years a faith walk,” Collins said. “You have to step out, trust the process, and pay attention to the growth that happens along the way — that’s how you know you’re moving in the right direction. I may not have a blueprint, but I have faith, and we’re going an abundant pace, ahead.”

IF YOU GO
Rockin R Retreat: https://rockinrretreats.com/
Cultivate Academy-CTX: https://sites.google.
com/view/cultivate-academy/homepage