It was The Judds who sang "Love Can Build a Bridge."  Well, at a local elementary school, love just built a bench.  We all know that making friends at school can be hard, especially if you're the new kid on the block.  The Student Lighthouse Team at East View Elementary just completed a special project that is designed make new friendships a whole lot easier to create.  It's called the Buddy Bench!

Here's a photo of the Student Lighthouse Team painting the bench and putting its finishing touches on!

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According to school officials, the goal of the Buddy Bench is to promote inclusion and friendship. "Students who are new to the school, students whose friends may not be at school on a particular day, students who want to play something other than what their friends are playing or any child who just wants to make new friends and meet children outside their regular circle of friends are encouraged to sit on the Buddy Bench, and other students will join them there to make new connections and forge new friendships."

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I absolutely love this idea and it hasn't taken long for East View students to have a seat and make some new friends!  In fact, here's what two EVES students had to say about their experiences on the Buddy Bench.

Ethan Payne – “The Buddy Bench is great! When I don’t have a friend, I sit there. One time a friend came over and invited me to a party they were having. I went!

Cassidy Plain – “The Buddy Bench really works! Sometimes I sit there and just wait for someone that may be embarrassed to sit there but doesn’t have a friend. They have come up to me and then we play!

By the way, we have to give a shout out to Lowe's.  The home improvement store donated the materials for the project.  And another shout out to a parent volunteer, who took on the task of building the bench.

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