ONALASKA, Wi — Some students at a Wisconsin elementary school are making a special bench to help other children make friends.
They’re called “buddy benches.” The idea: students who feel lonely at recess can go to a buddy bench. Other children will then see them and ask them to play.
This week, several students at Eagle Bluff Elementary School in Onalaska gave up their recess time to paint those benches. So far, three have been made.
“If you have a broken leg, everybody gives you sympathy,” said Pat Stellfue, art facilitator at Eagle Bluff Elementary. “They see the cast, they see you in crutches, but if you’re hurting inside because somebody was mean to you, there is no way to find out unless you tell us and this buddy bench is a way for them to do that.”
Teachers and students are hoping the idea of the Buddy Bench spreads to other schools.
