PTA brings two Buddy Benches to NPES
March 8, 2017
Students at New Providence Elementary have two new places to meet friends thanks to the hard work of the PTA.
Along with generous donors, the NPES PTA recently unveiled a Buddy Bench for each of the school’s two playgrounds. If a student doesn’t have someone to play with at recess, he or she can sit on the Buddy Bench and other students will join to talk or play.
The benches were installed on February 20, 2017, by volunteers from Mark Ullman Construction LLC, and a “bench sitting” ceremony with donors, staff and students took place February 27.
NPES parent and PTA volunteer Candice Escoe brought the idea to the PTA. Members worked with NPES School Counselors Page L. Jordan and Amy K. Wilson along with Principal Deborah R. Poole to bring the bench concept to fruition. Donations came from Melanie Dewar and Dr. James Dewar of Palmetto Pediatric and Adolescent Clinic, P.A., and Mark and Elizabeth Ullman of Mark Ullman Construction LLC. Each donor is recognized with a special plaque on their bench.
“The benches will be great additions to the playgrounds and help students include each other,” Poole said.
The benches are customized with the school name and NPES logo. Both school counselors created a program to explain the concept of the Buddy Bench to students.
The PTA is supplying funds for landscaping mulch and edging to make the benches a comfortable and permanent part of each playground.
