Buddy Program Begins Another Year of Mentorship and Community-Building in Lower School
The Lower School Buddy Program partners younger students with older ones, one-on-one for a year of mentorship.
St. Margaret’s Lower School Buddy Program kicked off another school year of community building and bonding as younger students met their older buddies and began a year full of activities.
The Lower School Buddy Program partners younger students with older ones, one-on-one for a year of mentorship. A kindergarten student is paired with a grade 3 student, a grade 1 student with a grade 4 student and a grade 2 student with a grade 5 student.
“The Buddy Program promotes community, mentorship and responsibility in the Lower School, but it also creates interactions that are just fun and enjoyable,” said Tupper Spring, Lower School director of community life. “Our students always look forward to seeing their buddies throughout the school year.”
In the Lower School Outdoor Classroom, kindergarten students met their grade 3 buddies for the first time on Tuesday. They together created nametags for their desks, read books, and toured the Lower School Outdoor Classroom.
It was a significant meeting for both grades. The kindergarten students are new to the Buddy Program, while the grade 3 students are becoming mentors for the first time.
Such introductions occurred across the Lower School ahead of Wednesday, when the first Buddy Chapel of the year took place. There, students sat with their buddies and listened to a homily with a theme of friendship.
The Buddy Program is designed for older students to demonstrate essential character traits such as leadership through serving as role models for younger students. It also serves to strengthen ties between students of different grade levels.
The buddies are carefully matched by the classroom teachers of each student, and the relationship develops during the school year through cross-grade activities and division-wide events.
In addition to the Buddy Chapels every Wednesday, an all-division Buddy Lunch will take place five times this school year on Chalmers Field. There, the buddies enjoy some free time on the field before eating lunch together. The first Buddy Lunch will take place September 11.
Buddies will also meet frequently throughout the year with their classes to take part in special classroom activities.
St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
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