Indian Lake Elementary School has another great way to be a friend and make a friend.
During a recent Laker Zone Assembly, representatives from the Ohio Department of Public Safety and Ohio School Safety Center presented ILES students with a brand new Buddy Bench for the playground.
Students earned the bench, with help from our community, by collecting more than 100-pounds of plastic lids. The lids were recycled and made into this sturdy, plastic bench.
Daniel Grothause from the Ohio Department of Public Safety explained that sitting on the bench is a signal.
“If you sit on the Buddy Bench during recess, it means you are ready to be a friend or make a friend,” he said.
This Buddy Bench will be the second one situated on the large playground at ILES. The first was donated by Lowe’s several years ago.
Special thanks to many members of our community for donating plastic lids to assist in securing the bench.
Buddy Benches were invented to combat loneliness and bullying in schools. Sometimes called a friendship bench, these benches are provided on school playgrounds as a way for students to signal to others that they are feeling lonely and isolated and need a friend to play with or someone to talk to.
The bench allows other children on the playground to clearly see when another kid needs support or a friend, and they can join them on the bench for a chat or invite them to play.