Good News Notes:

“One of the tough things about being middle-school-aged is that interests and hobbies that are cool to everyone who isn’t middle-school-aged are often seen as not cool by your peers. Unfortunately, that can lead a lot of kids to abandon things they love.

A dad who didn’t want to see that happen inadvertently set off an avalanche of support and generosity when he tweeted about a lack of peer support for his son’s woodworking hobby. Gabriel Clark, his 12-year-old son, has loved making things with wood since he was first handed his grandfather’s hammer when he was 3 or 4 years old. “I’ve always had a real passion for it,” Gabriel told PEOPLE, “and I’ve just taught myself everything I know.”

Gabriel’s father, Richard Clark, explained how sharing his son’s struggles with his peers over his hobby blew up the internet over the past few weeks.

“Three weeks ago my youngest, Gabriel 12, came home upset,” Clark wrote in a tweet on April 15. “His love of woodwork was not deemed cool, nor was only having 6 followers on his Instagram.

“His Dad was upset too. It’s hard watching your children battling with life. But what to do? Mum wasn’t around, so Dad, the impulsive fool that he is, instead reached out to the lovely people on Twitter. Maybe he could persuade some of them to follow his son?”

Clark’s tweet on March 25 had read: “Lovely twitter people – I don’t know how many of you are also #instagram users but I’m looking for a wee favour. I’ve a 12yr old who loves woodwork. He spends hours on his lathe making bowls and creating chopping boards which he’s sells to save up for a mountain bike. So I was wondering if any of you fancied giving him a boost and following him on instagram at clarkie_woodwork it would make his day. Thanks in advance and feel free to retweet!”

Clark said his son was aiming for 60 followers….”

https://www.upworthy.com/12-year-old-woodworker-raised-over-200k-for-ukraine