A new student in an unfamiliar school can often feel isolated and alone but not at Sandy Creek High thanks to the school’s Patriot Ambassadors.

Each year the ambassadors host a New Student Breakfast before the first day of classes to help students who have never attended school at the Jenkins Road Complex (Robert J. Burch Elementary, Flat Rock Middle and Sandy Creek High) acclimate more smoothly into the Sandy Creek family. The event shows students that they are not alone and gives them an opportunity to become acquainted with others who share their same thoughts and feelings about being a new student in a new school.

“Many students are surprised to learn that there are others in the same boat and that they are not out there by themselves. The breakfast gives them a chance to meet each other and start to develop relationships that will help them through their transition,” says counselor and Patriot Ambassador sponsor Tere Goodwin.

While most students appreciate the opportunity to meet others like them, there are still some students who are homesick for their former schools and communities. Goodwin says she hopes in time that these students will feel more at home and believes the breakfast is a good start in making that happen.

“We can’t save everyone heartache and pain but we can provide a climate of comfort and hope that may be helpful in the long run,” she says.

Students had plenty to eat during this year’s breakfast thanks to the generosity of local businesses and students who offered to cook up food in their own kitchens. Businesses donating food this year include Fairburn Chick-fil-A, both the Camp Creek Parkway and Newnan Red Lobster restaurants and Cracker Barrel. Jennifer Barber coordinated the event.

The Patriot Ambassadors invited over 110 students to the hour-long breakfast held at Sandy Creek on August 30. The ambassadors, under the umbrella of the school system’s CARE (Children at Risk in Education) program, focus on support and mentorship for new students, a safe and drug free school and promote Sandy Creek in a positive light.

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