Students at Clearview Elementary have a new way to make friends, the school’s new Buddy Benches.

 

Kindergarten teacher Bonyin King first heard of Buddy Benches during a leadership meeting she was attending, and thought they would be a great idea for Clearview. 

 

Buddy Benches are special benches designated for students to sit on if they’re sad or lonely and looking for someone to play with. Other students can then go to the bench and ask if they want to talk or play. The benches are a simple way to foster friendship on the playground and help children learn empathy.

 

King had noticed students, especially younger ones, struggling to find friends to play with during recess. She felt Buddy Benches would be a great way to help students improve their social skills and learn to be friends.

 

“The first moment is the biggest struggle when trying to make a new friend,” said King. “Younger students can see someone sitting on the benches and sit down with them and start a game. Older students can use them to talk and solve problems with their friends.”

 

The benches aren’t just for children. Teachers can also use them to sit down and talk to students.

 

Clearview already had benches on the playground, so with help from students and art teacher Kathy Gerdts-Senger, King painted two of them with the words “Clearview Buddy Bench,” one in English and one in Spanish. The benches were finished over the summer so they were ready for students to use when school started this fall.

 

To help introduce students to the concept of the Buddy Benches, King worked with the sixth grade teachers to hold a contest for the sixth graders to work in groups to write stories about the Buddy Benches. Each story had to emphasize friendship and include Clearview’s mascot, Cody the Cougar.

 

A winning entry was chosen from each of the two sixth grade classes. Brayden H., Will H. and Koda S.’s story was the winner from Ms. Clymer’s class, and Klaire K., Kyra K., Sydney R. and Haylee S.’s story won from Mr. Schmitz’s class. All participants received coupons to use at the school store, and the winners also received coupons to Subway.

 

The students who wrote the winning entries have been visiting classrooms and reading their stories to students, who are encouraged to ask questions about friendship and the Buddy Benches.

 

King has been pleased to see students using the benches, and is thankful to fellow teachers Kathy Gerdts-Senger, Andrea Coulter, Patti Clymer and Josh Schmitz for their help with the project.