Come Fly With Us is a club that takes sophomores, juniors, and seniors to the Orland 135 middle schools to help the next generation of eagles with transitioning to Sandburg. Students head to the schools in District 135 a few times a semester to talk, give advice, and aid the upcoming freshman with the demanding time. Acceptance to the club is by teacher recommendation.

Adunolawa Ogedengbe, a sophomore at Sandburg, is a part of the first generation of the club. She told me “My experience going back to [my] middle school, overall, was great, talking with the students. There’s no doubt that going into high school with a sea of expectation can be scary, and any opportunity to help alleviate that tension is always valued.” She also says that she thinks it worthwhile to miss school to help the rising freshman. She enjoys answering questions and seeing inside the minds of the new Eagles. 

Faith Casey is another sophomore in the program. She feels “very nostalgic [and] extremely grateful [she] had the opportunity to do it. It gave [her] the chance to revisit other students during that time in their life and hopefully help them out.” She remembers how nervous she felt coming to high school and thought that a club like this would have helped her with her transition. 

Monajah Ewuosho is a Jerling graduate and a current sophomore. She explained how “[She] would definitely call it a bittersweet experience; meeting [her] old teachers, seeing [her] hung up eighth grade yearbook photo, and [her] old classrooms. Talking with the students is such a crucial moment for the eighth graders that none of us would really understand how helpful it is.” The members of this club take it upon themselves to tell students “it’ll be okay” and to introduce more knowledge to the curious soon-to-be students. 

Overall, the responses are one and the same; everyone loves being a part of the community and enjoys helping out future Eagles during the stressful transition. Come Fly With Us is a great program that any student should be honored to be a part of.