Girl Scout Troop Donates 'Buddy Bench' to School Playground
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -— Girl Scout Junior Troop 12940 is donating a "buddy bench" to Williamstown Elementary School in honor of a friend and classmate who passed away at the beginning of the school year.
The troop, composed of 12 fourth-graders from Williamstown and Lanesborough, presented a slide show to explain the donation to the Williamstown Elementary School Committee at its June 8 meeting.
A buddy bench is a bench placed on or near a playground on which a child who is feeling lonely can sit as a signal that he or she is looking for a friend or playmate. The troop is dedicating the bench in the memory of Eve Claffey, a fellow fourth-grader who died right before school started this year.
"We loved and miss Eve and wanted to honor her memory in a special way," the girls said in the presentation to the school committee and the members of the public who attended the meeting.
Broadwell Carpentry donated the materials and labor for the bench, which is made out of reclaimed wood with a back in the shape of wings. Those wings are significant, the girls said in their presentation.
"According to legend, the dragonfly carries the wisdom of transformation and adaptability in life. As spirit animal, the dragonfly is connected to the symbolism of change and light. When the dragonfly shows up in your life, it may remind you to bring a bit more lightness and joy into your life," the girls said. "Eve did the same for us."
The Fund for Williamstown allocated the troop some funds to help decorate and place a plaque on the bench, which will be formally presented to the school prior to the start of the 2015-16 school year.
"The school year started on a sad note with the passing of Eve, who had been such a presence in the lives of these girls since they started at WES," troop co-leader Rebecca Dravis said in introducing the girls and their presentation. "She taught these girls the true meaning of inclusion, friendship and unconditional love every single day with her smile."
Tags: Girl Scouts, WES,
