Think back to your days of grade school fun. Remember recess? Recess is a time for important social bonds between peers. The friendships formed in this unstructured time can last a lifetime. For some students, making friends comes easily. For others, it's an intimidating task.
We have great students here!
Our students have big hearts and look out for each other. Our school is like a family! I am often impressed with how willing our students are to help each other out and how kind they are. Our students strive to be responsible, respectful, peaceful, active learners, and problem solvers every day. It's our school code! Our students are born leaders. Students go out of their way daily to help each other, often times without teacher prompting. Each day brings new and exciting experiences and you can feel the halls buzzing with excitement.
My Project
The idea of a "Buddy Bench" is simple. Students who feel left out, alone, or just haven't found someone to play with yet, will sit on the bench. When other students see their classmates sitting on the bench they will use that as a cue to invite them to play. This opens the door for new friendships to be formed and to assures that our more shy students are being included at recess.
Recently, the first grade classes learned what a "buddy bench" was and were eager to put this into practice. They talked about wanting a bench and came up with a temporary alternative. I have already personally witnessed students meeting at the bench.
This project's completion will directly impact the lives of 315 students.
It doesn't only help out the students who may feel lonely at recess. It also helps build stronger leaders in those students who are seeking out people on the bench. We're teaching our students about intentional acts of kindness. Filling a need for kindness right where we see it! It's more than a safe place to wait for friends. It's an opportunity for our students to step up and be there for one another.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Small and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.