Soon after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Louisiana coast in 2005, counselor Ms. Sandy Perrin heard a radio broadcast that was reaching out to schools, looking for them to adopt a local school in need of aid. Ms. Perrin soon got to work, finding a school in New Orleans that she attended in the tenth grade: Pascagoula High School.

With MHS support, Ms. Perrin started the “Give the Shirt off your Back” campaign in order to supply the needy school with new uniforms it had requested. For five dollars, students could buy a paper shirt to display on the cafeteria windows, symbolizing a shirt to be given to a student affected by the storm.

After the campaign ended, Ms. Perrin, Ms. Fleming (who was the principal at the time) and five students all made the drive down to deliver the 500 shirts, twelve band instruments, some cheerleading uniforms and big, fat $2,000 check. Ms. Perrin said, “What was so awesome about the whole thing was that when we got there and delivered the items, it felt like all 1,200 MHS students were standing there with us.”

That event is just one of many that Ms. Perrin treasures from her time as a counselor, and one of the many instances that one could clearly witness, according to counselor Ms. Hope Huey, “her huge heart for kids.” Now, as Ms. Perrin retires after a 30-year career in the educational field, she has many memories to look back on that have defined her years serving students.

Ever since she was a little girl who loved to play school with her siblings in the garage, Ms. Perrin knew she wanted to be a teacher. However, when she entered Georgia College (now GCSU), she first obtained a two-year accounting degree. She said, “At that time, it seemed like all females were teachers, so my family and I believed that women should try to do something different, like business or accounting.” Ms. Perrin finally ended up switching over to her life-long dream because, as she said, “I always wanted to be a teacher.”

Upon graduating, Ms. Perrin taught middle school math for three years in Milledgeville before moving to Fayette County. For 16 years, she worked as a math teacher and a counselor at Booth. She has worked at McIntosh for 12 years since 2003. In 2013, Ms. Perrin was named the Fayette County ounselor of the Year.

Ms. Perrin has made several big contributions to counseling events at McIntosh and Booth. Counselor Ms. LeAnn Belknap said, “Ms. Perrin has always done a great job with the New Student Dinner.” At the dinner, which takes place on the day before school, the counselors, faculty and Ambassadors Club provide pizza for new students and their families. Among other activities, students get paired up to walk their schedule.

The goal is for each student to know at least one other person on his or her first day. Ms. Perrin said, “The event has a big impact, and I have seen many best friend relationships develop from the event.” The dinner is extra special for Ms. Perrin because when she was growing up with her father in the Navy, she attended 21 different schools. Ms. Perrin said, “I’ve always been partial to new kids when they come to MHS because I’ve always been the new kid in school.”

Another counseling event that has been important to Ms. Perrin is the Grief Group. This group, which meets on a weekly basis, is for anyone who lost someone close to him or her, usually a parent, to death or divorce or deployment. Ms. Perrin said, “The group has been one of the most special things that I’ve ever been involved in.”

About Ms. Perrin, Ms. Huey said, “She’s a very student-oriented person.” This quality shows in the sheer number of students Ms. Perrin has served as a counselor, about 400 a year for 12 years at McIntosh, and also through her individual interactions with students. She said, “It gave me so much pride and excitement to see students work toward their accomplishments, no matter how different they were. With so many students, I got to witness at least 400 accomplishments a year, so there was always something to appreciate at different levels.”

Ms. Perrin said, “One of my favorite memories is getting to watch kids grow through their four years and finally walk across the stage at graduation. It is so, so rewarding to see the kids that take the AP classes and are at the top of their class academically reach their goals and attend the college of their dreams, and it feels equally awesome, and sometimes even more so, to see that kid in ninth grade who struggled but persevered through it all and still made it.”

Besides counseling work, Ms. Perrin also coached the MHS girls’ golf team for seven years until she let Coach Duff take over last year. Now in retirement, she said, “I really want to get back on the golf course.” Ms. Perrin also spends time with her friends outside of school, and many of her fellow counselors enjoy being with her. Ms. Huey said, “One of my favorite memories was one year on Twin Day that all of us counselors dressed up like Ms. Perrin.” Ms. Belknap said, “We always had a lot of fun and laughed a lot–especially since she has such a vivacious personality.”

Ms. Perrin has planned an exciting start to her retirement. For the first three months, she will travel to the Panama Canal, Thailand and Korea. She also said, “When I get home, I have three grandbabies that I want to spend time with.”

On deciding to leave in the middle of the year, Ms. Perrin said, “It was a very difficult and very sad decision for me.” Before retiring on December 1, Ms. Perrin gave out her personal phone number to every senior student who saw her for counselor recommendations, Common App supplements and any other college help. Over 60 seniors out of the 85 assigned to her got her phone number.

Now, Ms. LoraBeth Stroup and Ms. Donna Banks, two retired Fayette County High School counselors, will be filling in for Ms. Perrin for the rest of the school year. Ms. Perrin said, “I feel very comfortable with the two wonderful and fully experienced ladies taking my place, and they have made me feel more confident that my kids and their parents will be taken care of.”

Ms. Perrin will be coming back to visit the counseling department occasionally for the rest of the year, and one will likely spot her at the upcoming home basketball games this season. Even though she will be missed at McIntosh, the events she has put in place and the impacts she has made in the school will continued to be cherished. Ms. Perrin said, “I will love MHS forever, and I will always be a Chief.”