Building Friendships
Students making a difference with elementary schools
A Buddy Bench is a bench where elementary school students can go if they feel lonely, left out, or just want to make friends. When the student sits on the bench, other students are encouraged to reach out to the isolated student and invite them to play at recess!
JCF took on this project as an anti-bullying campaign, for they know how important it is to have a core group of supportive friends throughout both primary and secondary schooling. One of the main focuses of JCF is to improve the graduation rates of teens in our county; attacking this issue from the roots by helping create a steady foundation of friends for elementary school students with buddy benches is the perfect way to do so.
These benches are now located on the playgrounds of all District 7 elementary schools.
Partnership
County Assessor Connie Roach came up with the idea of implementing Buddy Benches to help increase graduation rates by preventing peer on peer bullying and promoting friend making opportunities in elementary schools.
Cliff Kuhlman (District Board Member) recommended Connie Roach and JCF partner up and implement these benches together!
Funding came from JCF grant writing (Rotary), and community member donations.
Buddy Bench locations
- Redwood Elementary School
- Lincoln Elementary School
- Highland Elementary School
- AllenDale Elementary School
- Riverside Elementary School
- Parkside Elementary School
Making new friends!
“My hope is that these Buddy Benches will help build friendships at early ages and allow students to feel supported and confident! This will hopefully lead to more students staying in school and graduating in the future!” – Kippy Easley, Hidden Valley High School Student
