PHOTOS: ‘Buddy’ Program Fosters Mentorship, Leadership Skills and Community in Lower School

The Lower School Buddy Program partners younger students with older ones, one-on-one for a year of mentorship through cross-grade activities and Chapel. 
Some held hands, and others interlocked in side hugs. As the Lower School students proceeded into Buddy Chapel at the start of the school day on Tuesday, they each did so with their “buddy” nearby.   

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 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 class teachers of each student, and the relationship develops during the school year through cross-grade activities and division-wide events.

“The little buddies really feel a sense of belonging when they’re with their older buddies. They enjoy the acknowledged relationship with an older student,” said Tupper Spring, Lower School director of community life. “The older buddies like feeling like they have something to offer. They enjoy being looked up to and embrace their position as a role model.”

Throughout the year, the buddies interact through a variety of activities:

- The buddies sit together at Chapel each Tuesday, where Father Earl Gibson delivers a homily with a theme of friendship.

- An all-division Buddy Lunch will take place four times this school year. The first Buddy Lunch took place last Friday on Chalmers Field, where buddies ate lunch together before enjoying some free time on the field. Buddy Lunches are also planned for November, February and April on the Lower School field.

- Buddies will also meet frequently throughout the year with their classes to take part in special classroom activities.

Students get a new buddy each school year, and after grade 2 will go from a little buddy to an older buddy. The relationships that develop are enduring, too.

“Buddies remember each other forever,” Lower School principal Jennifer Blount said. “I see them waving to one another in Middle School and Upper School. The Buddy Program builds a stronger sense of community and family here at St. Margaret’s.”
Back
 
Translation? ¿Traducción? 翻译?:

An Independent Preschool Through Grade 12 College-Preparatory Day School in Orange County California

Non-Discrimination Policy
St. Margaret's Episcopal School does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, sexual orientation or national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational, admission, financial aid, hiring and athletic policies or in other school-administered programs.