Olds town council has agreed to provide up to $900 to help fund a $1,500 buddy bench at …cole Deer Meadow School (EDMS), designed to make lonely students feel more included.
Council made that decision earlier this month after a delegation of students from the EDMS Kindness Matters Academy came to council chambers asking for a financial contribution to the project.
Before speaking, Rachel McIntyre, Lily McGee, Lize-Marie Hoffman and Brooklyn Linderman passed around a drawing of the proposed customized bench.
"A buddy bench is a special place in the school playround where kids can go when they want someone to talk to or play with them at recess," they said. "A buddy bench is a simple idea to eliminate loneliness and foster friendship on the playground."
The plan is for students to work with town staff to design and install the bench.
Delegates asked councillors if they'd be willing to help fund the cost of the bench. The students noted that starting in January, they plan to sell hotdogs on Fridays. Half the money raised from that initiative will go toward covering the cost of the project.
The students were asked if they had approached Chinook's Edge School Division to help fund the project. At the time of the presentation, they had not yet done so.
In the end, council passed Coun. Mary Jane Harper's motion calling on the town to fund up to $900 of the project's cost.
Coun. Mary Anne Overwater praised the concept.
"Great presentation, and I commend you young ladies for being very inclusive to everybody in the school," she said. "Sometimes there are people there who seem to be on their own, and I think this bench will help them feel a part of your school."
"Sometimes there are people there who seem to be on their own, and I think this bench will help them feel a part of your school."COUN. MARY ANNE OVERWATER
