Buddy Bench Breaks Barriers at Southeast School

Submitted by Dist. 124

When most parents send their children off to school, a few fundamental expectations are that they’ll gain knowledge in a safe environment while progressing socially and emotionally.

Positive peer relationships play a critical role in a student’s academic success. Parents and caregivers arrange playdates and parties as early as infancy to help children learn to interact with others. However, for some, establishing friendly connections with people is challenging.

Nevertheless, there’s a solution in the works. Students from the Choose Kind Club at Southeast School have organized a new way of helping their peers connect.

It’s called, The Buddy Bench!

Lori Johnson, interventionist, of Southeast School, started the Choose Kind Club earlier this year. She and the approximate 40 students in the club adopted the Buddy Bench concept from watching YouTube videos. They found schools implementing Buddy Benches across the country were having great success.

Students in need of a friend during recess would sit on the Buddy Bench, which in turn, alerts classmates to invite them into conversation, a game or other social activities happening on the playground. The idea is that no student should be left sitting alone on the Buddy Bench.

“Making friends it just as important as academics and safety,” said Cynthia Castillo, a Southeast parent of two, Gabriella and Christian Gonzalez. “Social interaction plays a vital role in how kids develop. The diversity of thought from peers even in social settings helps shape our future adults of tomorrow.”

The Buddy Bench idea was a great one in theory however, Southeast had one BIG problem. Funding! The cost of purchasing the custom made bench was nearly $500.

A shortage of funds wasn’t going to stop these students.

Those witty Kindness Club members decided to reach out to their fellow classmates by advertising the Pennies with a Purpose Drive.

“The entire school gave spare change and our SEES Booster Club also assisted with the project,” principal Alice Spingola said.

The students of Southeast school reacted to the need swiftly. Within just FOUR days, their loose change had raised enough money for not one, but-TWO Buddy Benches!

The Choose Kind Club voted on a slogan to be engraved on their bench from a choice of four sayings. The winning slogan, “One Friend Can Change Your Whole Life.”

It was a collected effort beyond currency getting the Buddy Bench on the Southeast playground. “Mr. Joe, our custodian, assembled the bench and the district maintenance staff installed it by bolting it into the ground for us,” said Mrs. Spingola.

The staff was so pleased with the students taking such great ownership of sharing kindness, the entire student body was rewarded with a treat. Mrs. Catherine Costello and Mrs. Lori Lurquin, are head of the Student Council, they sponsored snow cones for everyone the day the first Buddy Bench was unveiled.

The second bench will arrive in the fall.

All the students cheered as Mrs. Spingola pulled the vibrant blue tarp from around the bench. “The Buddy Bench is really good because it’ll help people make a new friend every day,” said fourth-grader, Gabrielle Gonzales. “All they have to do is sit down and lots of people will come.”

To hear what more students had to say, watch the unveiling of the Buddy Bench. Video by Claudia Parker.