The one great thing about our country is the freedom of expression, giving anyone - and I mean anyone - the ability to view their thoughts on just about anything. Before an opinion is expressed, however, one (and by one I mean spideymann) should thoroughly review their criticisms and accusations. Not to be rude, but spideymann, there is nothing wrong with Sandy Creek, and what you perceived as "rude and rowdy beyond belief," in normal terms could be viewed as a proud family cheering on their child. Now, as for the "lectures" that you deemed so detestable, let me ask you this. The speeches that night were given to motivate students: they were positive, influential, and, overall, great. What is it with YOU? Obviously, your pessimistic attitude shines at any occasion. Also, have you ever been to a graduation before? Over the years, I have been to many of them, and the students, the speeches, the crowd - all are similar to what I have experienced, from high school to college, west coast to east coast. Sandy Creek is the typical high school, just like Starr's Mill, McIntosh, or any other high school in Fayette County. However, Sandy Creek has an advantage - a diverse population. The only downside to the other schools in the county is the lack of a diverse, cultured student body. So you won't send your child to Sandy Creek? Great, that school is great, and it doesn't need parents like you interfering with it. The truth is, Sandy Creek is the CLOSEST median that you will find between high school and the real world. As you have apparently already made up your mind, there is no need to persuade. However, know this. Send your child to a private school, or send them to another school in Fayette County. They'll get the same education, except they will be housed in such a protected environment that once out of your reach, well, all I have to say is good luck. On Friday, May 26, 2006 there were 5 graduation ceremonies. You were at one. Did you hear any other speeches, or see any other crowds? No. Graduation videos certainly aren't completed yet, so no. Next time you decide to voice such a closed minded opinion on something, get the facts straight. Sandy Creek's administration has been one of the best I have ever seen, and many of them have transferred from other schools. The Board of Education knows that, and knows better than to listen to the handful of people like you who try to make a name for themselves in the worst way possible. It is people like you that disgust me. So anyone who reads this, students, parents, Sandy Creek faculty, do not listen to spideymann. And to you spideymann, I believe your head is held a little too high - the air is probably too thin up there. Come down to reality, take a deep breath, and reconsider your thoughts. Class of 2006, congratulations, and good luck in the future.

I didn't attend SCHS graduation, but I did Fayette County's. I heard air horns and screaming (little clapping) and saw some weird dancing. None of this bothered me since I just considered the source and their right to do so. What did bother me was huge umbrellas for the sun pounding people in the face all around and blocking views. Also, when it was over one could actually get run over and actually crowded out by force.

To be honest, this comment made on the graduation did not surprise me at all. Living in fayette county all my life has made me numb to all of the close-minded accusations quietly made by the upper class citizens. Most of whom so desperately try to seem educated in the affairs of the nation, but their "morals" that they have grown up with unfortunately blind them to what is really happening. This newspaper attracts these people for some reason and i have found that out through reading the blogs, which was one of my ongoing assignments in my AP government class that i took at SCHS. It became common to read things so unbelievably close-minded and stereotypical, and eventually it just wasnt funny anymore because these people live among me and my peers. I am so sick of people talking about Sandy Creek as if it was trash. Just because the sheer volume of "so-called success" (SAT scores, state mandated tests, etc) measured by statistitians are less than the other schools in the county does NOT mean that this school is "lost." In my opinion, the students coming out of Sandy Creek are more fit for the world than any coming from other schools in the county. It may be a break in the little "bubble" of Fayette county, but it is more like the real world than anything else in this County. Our school is a melting pot of many different cultures and living arrangements and still manages to function as one of the best schools in the state. Im sorry, but this is a fundamental principle that the United States was founded on, and if you believe that everyone should fit into the same mold, youve got more problems than your doctor can handle.

I am a 2006 SCHS graduate and i am proud to say so.
~Nathan Boyd

Congrats on graduating from SCHS Nathan. No up-and-coming high-schoolers will possess the individuality that you brought to the band. You are absolutely correct on the fact that too many people in our county think that us "country-bumpkins" at SCHS are too rowdy and don't fit the so called "mold" that the rest of the schools provide for their students. SCHS lets its students be who they are and nothing else. However, you are wrong on one point, SCHS's SAT scores and state mandated tests are among the top two in the county. The juniors this year outpassed all other juniors in the county on the Graduation Test, writing and subject test, and the average SAT score is oen of the highest in the county. Sandy Creek has not been lost as the stuck-up, conceited South Fayette people might think. Never let anyone force you to do something you don't want to do. Again, congrats on choosing success and good luck at Tech.

Spideymann, I don't know what graduation ceremony you attended, but obviously it wasn't Sandy Creek's. There was no self serving, holier than thou lecture given. Did the speakers toot their class's collective horn? Sure they did! It was after all, THEIR NIGHT!
What is it with this school you ask? I'll tell you what it is. It is a GREAT school with a GREAT administration, GREAT parents and GREAT students.
Were the audience's outbursts of joy too much for you? Lighten up already! How boring it would have been had no one honked a horn, shouted a graduate's name, or if the graduation class had just sat on the field in silence. Of course that sounds like just what you wanted.
Yes, SCHS's community is a little different than the rest of Fayette County. We can be loud and rowdy at times, but we love our children and our school.

If our school is lost...then we don't want to be found!

Which lecture would this be? The one from the valedictorian promising success to the students beyond high school; the one from the salutatorian congratulating the grads for making it through high school; the one from the senior class president saying that graduating was only a pit stop along the road of success; or any other of the speeches given by the other well-wishers and introducers? I was at the SCHS graduation and I for one thought that the speakers all spoke to the graduates about the fact that this graduation was only the first, not the last, stop on the path to success. Sandy Creek is not "lost" as you say. Rather, it is the most diverse, least crowded of ten-year schools, and most of the students are well-voiced. If you would rather be closed-minded about students, most of whom are adults, speaking their minds at their high school graduation then maybe you should re-read the Bill of Rights, the First of which includes freedom of speech. This allows people to speak their mind, no matter how "Holier-than-thou" it may seem to some. Also, the seniors speaking were required to give their speeches to the administration in advance so that they could censor any unappropriate material. If you don't remember, or never had, the anxious feeling that comes upon a person, especially teens, when told that you would be speaking in front of the graduating class and their relatives plus more, then it wouldn't be apparent to you the ways that some teens play this feeling off. To you, this was their "self-serving, smug" attitude you, but no one else except maybe your relatives, observed at the graduation. On the other hand, Congrats SCHS Class of 2006.