Buddy Benches combat loneliness at Cooper
For two Cooper Elementary first graders, a pinky promise is serious business and they know exactly what they promised. Seated on the newly-installed Buddy Bench in the Cooper playground, both Tabitha Brew and Lilianna Green knew what the bench was for.
“It’s for kids who don’t have anyone to play with,” Tabitha explained. “If someone is there, you play with them.”
During the few minutes it took for the girls to have a photo taken on the bench, several other first graders arrived with offers of companionship.
Lilianna doesn’t think she will need the Buddy Bench when school resumes in the fall. She always has someone to play with, but Tabitha wasn’t as sure.
Sometimes, she explained, her classmates make plans for recess during lunch, but she doesn’t like to plan ahead. She would rather spend her lunchtime enjoying her food and living in the moment. That means that there are occasions when her friends make plans that don’t include her. She might use the Buddy Bench on days like that.
Although community donations and the parent-teacher organizations paid most of the expenses for the bench, there’s was also a school-wide fundraiser and every student at Cooper donated at least a penny, assistant principal Rachel Manus said. That way, the students all have a stake in the Buddy Bench.
Each classroom at the school has a poster that describes the Buddy Bench and the expectations for students, and every student signed his or her class poster. First graders also made a pinky promise.
Since Cooper has two playgrounds, there were actually two benches installed just before school let out for the summer. When classes start back in August, the Buddy Benches will be there to help Cooper Elementary students know they are not alone.