Anderson Elementary adds Buddy Benches to grow friendships
December 14, 2018
Anderson Elementary school has made a new way to include everyone. With their Buddy Bench, a child can sit there when they are in need of a buddy.
Anderson Elementary has put in Buddy Benches for students to find friends. These Buddy Benches are for students who are new to the school, are looking for new friends to play with, or their friends are not at school. They will sit on the bench if they want to make a new friend then someone will come up to them wanting to play.
Anderson Elementary put in Buddy Benches as a project of an Eagle Scout troop member to help kids find friends and not feel left out. The Eagle Scout and his team installed the benches by hand.
One of the biggest concerns of parents who just heard of the Buddy Benches is if their student uses it they might feel singled out and get teased.
Anderson Elementary teacher Roxy Humphrey said, “We took great care to educate the staff, who in turn, helped our students know the purpose of the Buddy Bench.” Humphrey said the students all know that the Buddy Bench is not something out of the normal so nobody finds it unusual to use it.
Roxy Humphrey and her son, Carson Humphrey, worked on putting together this project for their school. This is for her sons Eagle Scout project and it helps the kids find new friends. They worked with the school in order to get these benches approved.
We took great care to educate the staff, who in turn, helped our students know the purpose of the Buddy Bench. — Roxy Humphrey
Anderson Elementary teacher Carrie Carroll said, “Roxy and her son are the ones who started the Buddy Benches.” Caroll said Roxy Humphrey and her son brought up the idea to the school board as a way for students to interact.
The Buddy Benches at Anderson Elementary did not take long to put in according to Carson Humphrey, who helped put them in with his team. Carson Humphrey and his team of Eagle Scouts put in the benches at Anderson Elementary.
Eagle Scout Carson Humphrey said, “The Buddy Benches didn’t take long at all to put in because we prepared them before getting there and they’re all wood so they’re inexpensive.” Humphrey said the benches are inexpensive and easy to install for the kids.
The Buddy Benches at Anderson Elementary were put in by Carson Humphrey. He is the son of a teacher there, Roxy Humprey and together they convinced the board to install the benches. Carson and his team of Eagle Scouts swiftly installed the benches very inexpensively. These Buddy Benches help the students find new friends when they have no one to play with.
Rosella Nichols • Jan 7, 2019 at 7:49 am
This is a great story that shares the simplicity behind young friendships and growth. It shows how something as simple as a school park bench can go great lengths into making a friendship or friendships.
Lilly Sample • Jan 4, 2019 at 9:03 am
This story and the idea behind it are so cute! It does a great job addressing the purpose behind the bench, installation, and concerns behind the bench, but seems a bit repetitive. The idea of Eagle Scouts installing the bench is brought up a few times, and it’s mentioned that Carson Humphrey is Roxy Humphrey’s son multiple times. Otherwise, great article!
Soren Danelius • Jan 4, 2019 at 8:27 am
This was a great article! I went to Anderson Elementary and it is very cool to hear what is happening there today. It is very heartwarming to hear that students there are making sure that nobody feels left out. I would’ve liked to hear the parents perspective on this, and it was a little repetitive. But overall it was a very good story!
Joseph devins • Jan 4, 2019 at 8:06 am
Wow Kevin, great article. I can completely tell this was well researched. It is very adorable to have a buddy bench at an elementary school and this story shines a light on that. Fantastic work Kevin.
Tristan Smith • Jan 4, 2019 at 7:42 am
Overall this was a really good article you could tell that you did a lot of research and interviewed several people to tell how the idea came about, what the person had to do to get approval and how the installation of the benches happened. You also presented facts that explained the concerns that people had with the idea and how those were addressed. There were a few parts that were somewhat repetitive and out of sequence but in general a really good article.
Chas Morgan • Jan 3, 2019 at 9:00 pm
You covered this article very nicely. This story is a nice feel-good story, but those can often come out boring. You took a smart approach with your interviews and told the story in a fun way!
Tyler Johnson • Jan 3, 2019 at 8:37 pm
This article does a good job explaining how an idea can spark action in a community and help form friendships. It is also a topic I never would have thought about if it were not this article.
Nathaniel Willius • Jan 3, 2019 at 7:45 pm
I have not heard of these before now, and I have to say I like the idea. I feel the article was a little repetitive, and could have used a bit more detail on how its helped, however still a nice article covering something not many people would know about.
Grace Roeske • Jan 3, 2019 at 9:07 am
The photo caption does a good job of describing the picture but also telling the story. It is a heart warming approach to the story and the story is clear about the topic and has good quotes.
Skyler Schreiber • Jan 3, 2019 at 8:30 am
The title really stood out to me because I’ve never heard of a buddy bench. I love how the article shows more than one opinion especially from the parents of students in paragraph 3. There are great quotes but I wish the article expanded the lead a bit more. Overall great article.
Elsa Persson • Jan 3, 2019 at 8:01 am
This is a really unique topic for an article! I like how well this article covers the opposing opinions of the Buddy Bench. There is a good use of quotes and fact paragraphs, though the lead could be more descriptive. It’s very well written!
Hannah Sween • Jan 2, 2019 at 8:07 am
What an adorable story idea! This article is very clear, however somewhat redundant. The first paragraph feels like it could be shortened and the quote from Carrie Carroll in the sixth paragraph is unnecessary because it is stated in the fifth paragraph that Roxy and her son were in charge of the project.
Nick Parent • Jan 1, 2019 at 9:45 pm
The title makes you want to read on to find out how buddy benches are used. My mom teaches school at Andersen and thinks this is a great article about the benches. The students use them everyday to make a new friend or let others know they need someone to play with. It helps all students make connections. It is great that you have comments from parents and staff.
Well done!
Derek Berg • Dec 21, 2018 at 10:19 am
I went to Anderson Elementary so it was interesting to read about it. There were nice quotes and language used in the article. It was very well covered and gave me a nice intro to the topic.
Emma Boehle • Dec 21, 2018 at 9:22 am
The title of this article is very captivating because it grabs people’s attention with the heart felt message behind it. I think that the buddy benches is a wonderful idea because no kid deserves to feel left out at school and these benches help that problem.
Cady Solberg • Dec 21, 2018 at 9:13 am
I like the overall message behind this story about the friendships in elementary schools. This caught my attention because it said new in the title telling me it was new and I probably hadn’t heard about it before. The writing style is good switching between quotes from the student who built them and the teacher who pushed for them to be built. This article really told me that there should be things like this at all school whether it’s preschool or college.