“I wanted to do for other people what the Peer Helpers did for me,” comments junior, Madison Harrold, a Bob Jones Peer Helper, before greeting new students in first lunch.
Every school year, the Bob Jones Peer Helpers, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of BJHS students, run a new student table in all of the lunches. This table gives students who recently moved to Madison a chance to meet fellow classmates and ensures that no one sits alone in their first week of school.
This year many of the Peer Helpers running the new student table were once the “new kids” themselves.
Current peer helpers Madison Harrold, Carla Mersereau, and Brian Tachias all moved to Madison from different parts of the country.
“My first day of Bob Jones was pretty lonely because I didn’t know anybody. I heard about the new student table over the intercom and sat there the next day. Even after the Peer Helpers left I still had people to sit with at lunch,” says Brian Tachias, who moved here from Pennsylvania in 2011. “My dad is in the army, I’ve moved 13 times, I thought peer helping would be a great way to help new students,” Brian continues.
With 75 out-of-town new students on the first day, the Peer Helpers class strives to make each newcomer feel welcome. “We want to help the new students to feel welcome and make new friends,” the Peer Helpers’ teacher, Mrs. Drummond explains.
Many of the peer helpers who were previously new students felt like it was their responsibility to return the favor given to them. “I was new. I know what it feels like to be lonely at a new school. I joined Peer Helpers because I want the new students to know someone really cares,” discloses senior, Carla Mersereau.
