The Buddy Bench is the brainchild of three Girl Scouts and CSI 5th graders, Victoria Binns, Emma Gray, and Sarah Lohr, as part of their project to achieve the Girl Scout Bronze Award. All three girls decided early on that they wanted to do a project that helps their fellow students bring kindness, inclusion, and empathy to their playtime. Thus, the CSI Buddy Bench project was born.
In November the girls met with Principal Xyzzy to present their ideas and find out what steps they would need to take to make sure their project had both her and CUSD approval. They conceived ways to make the bench more impactful on the community. Once they found out what they had to do, the girls worked hard to fundraise to pay for the bench. Through this process they received donations from community members and generous sponsorship from The Trash Punx. They also held a successful fundraiser at South Winchester BBQ!
Their fundraising efforts allowed them to also purchase The Buddy Bench Book as a gift to the Kindergarten classes, and they plan to read the book to all the Kindergarteners at the beginning of each school year. Through this process the idea came up to also use this opportunity to remember and celebrate CSI teacher Terri Hughes, who passed away during the previous school year. With so many ideas swirling around, the girls worked to tie everything together with a presentation that was presented to the Kindergarten students. During the presentation, Emma, Sarah, and Victoria introduced the Kindergarten classes to the Buddy Bench, read the book to them, discussed situations they may face on the playground, and encouraged them to Think Like Terri! The students listened attentively and asked great questions! Emma, Sarah, and Victoria look forward to doing the same presentation in the Fall for next year’s Kindergarteners, and they hope the lessons they teach will stay with students throughout their time at CSI!
Emma, Sarah, and Victoria would like to thank Principal Xyzzy and CUSD personnel for helping to realize their vision. They would also like to thank Girl Scout Troop 62131 and Troop Leader Staci Binns for their support on this project.
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