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H E L P I N G C L A S S M A T E S F I N D A B U D D Y
For elementary school students,
it can sometimes be diffi cult to
make new friends. That is
especially true when it comes to
recess and fi nding someone to
play with on the playground.
Christina Look was seeing that
problem at her daughter's
school, Fairland East Elementary
in Proctorville. Her daughter,
Gwen, told her that one of her
classmates wasn't making
friends very easily and Gwen
and some other girls were
spending their entire recess
looking for her so she wouldn't
wander the playground by herself.
That's when Look, the co-leader
of her daughter's Girl Scout troop,
Kentucky's Wilderness Road
Council Troop 7497, and her
co-leader, Kelly Poff, asked the
troop if they would like to take
some of their earnings from
selling Girl Scout cookies to buy
something for the school to help
their classmates make friends—
a buddy bench.
The buddy bench fi rst appeared
in the U.S. at Roundtown
Elementary in York, Pa., when
7 year-old Christian Bucks
brought the idea to his principal
after seeing one at a school in
Germany.
"The buddy bench is designed
to teach school-aged children
inclusiveness," Look said.
"The concept is if you don't
have a friend to play with on the
playground that day, you go sit
on the bench. All the children
in the schoolyard are taught if
you see a child on the bench,
you are supposed to go invite
them to play. It's geared toward
elementary school ages to
encourage children to make
new friends."
Once the project was announced
online, parents from neighboring
schools asked if the troop could
help them purchase a bench.
Look and Poff didn't want to
deplete the girls' entire cookie
earnings, so they did other fund-
raisers to purchase additional
benches, including bake sales,
spaghetti lunches, and selling
candy and household products.
The fundraising allowed the girls
to purchase three more buddy
benches at Fairland West
Elementary, South Point Elementary
and Symmes Valley Elementary.
Licensed Psychologist Melissa
Long, manager of St. Mary's
Mental Health Counseling and
Employee Assistance Program
(L-R): Leah Price, Kaylee Poff, Samara Freeman, Sophia Scragg, Shayna Leffi ngwell,
Gwendolyn Look, Aleigha Ferris, Willow Dial, London Coffey, Nevaeh Clark
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