By Tim Whitenell
Athletes don’t like to be benched but for some students at a local elementary school that’s where they’ll go to get noticed.
Johnathan Dann of Patriot Property Management approached Sir Ernest MacMillan P.S. Principal Malerie Borbath with an idea to try to erase the disappointment of kids who had nobody to play with during lunchtime and recess, a situation he heard had been occurring on occasion.
After researching the issue online, Dann found similar circumstances at other schools. He suggested a place where a pupil could sit outside and be seen when they had no one with whom to play.
The Buddy Bench was born.
Dann has built a bench for such kids to sit on. He is unveiling it on Monday, Oct. 19 at the Headon Road JK-Grade 8 school.
“If you can’t find your friends, you sit there and someone will come by and invite you to play with them,” said Borbath.
She said a newsletter was sent home to parents about the idea and the School Council also consulted.
“We had an assembly and I asked how many had friends who were sick or not able to play on a certain day and most hands went up,” said Borbath, whose school has 377 pupils.
The Buddy Bench, sporting the black and red school colours, will be in a highly visible area to the side and rear of the school. It will seat about three students.
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