New Buddy Bench Installed At Roger Neilson Public School

The Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha went back to school on Thursday (October 18th) for a special reason: They presented a Rotary “Buddy Bench” to Roger Neilson Public School Principal Denise Humphries and the staff and students there.
 
It was Kawartha Rotarian Donna Geary and her son Nate Loch that initiated the program and St. Catherine’s Catholic Elementary School was the first recipient last year.  

Ribbon Cutting of Rotary Buddy Bench at Roger Neilson School: (Left to Right) Nate Loch, Rotarian Donna Geary, Kawartha Club President Brian Prentice & Principal Denise Humphries

Nate shared candidly with the group his past experiences of both inclusiveness and exclusiveness in both elementary and high school—of being both the victim and the perpetrator of bullying.

“The Buddy Bench is something that I really wish I had growing up, as it’s meant to celebrate friendship with those we may not know and is a good social tool for the kids of Roger Neilson to combat the problem of bullying,” Nate says.

“By understanding one another, we find similarities we might not have found, and unlikely friendships can form from even the smallest of encounters,” he adds. “I hope that the Buddy Bench helps create some of these unlikely friendships and helps keep as a reminder that we all could be on that bench at one point in our lives.”  

“We hope that the Buddy Bench provides an opportunity for students to foster new friendships, build empathy and reinforce inclusiveness,” adds Principal Denise Humphries.

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Rotary Club Of Peterborough Installs Buddy Bench At St. Catherines Elementary School

The Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha presented its first Rotary Buddy Bench to St. Catherines Catholic Elementary School Principal Shelley Adair and the staff and students of the school.

Nate Loch, a former student there and the inspiration for the project, shared candidly with the group in the school library his past experiences in both elementary and high school regarding bullying—of being both the victim and the perpetrator of bullying.

Left to Right: Donna Geary, Rotary Club of Peterborough Kawartha; Donna’s son, Nate Loch; Past President Kim Winter; St. Catherines Principal Shelley Adair; Rotary Club President Len Lifchus.

Nate closed his powerful talk with this message:

“I am optimistic looking towards the future of the schooling systems, and I’ve seen the great effort undertaken from the school board to try and tackle the gigantic problem of bullying. But this is where it starts, and this is where it can end—right here in this school, in the playgrounds and everywhere in between.

"I hope that as teachers you can guide the students into using this bench to promote inclusiveness and to be open to the idea of socializing with people they aren’t familiar with, or they might not be comfortable around. I hope to see this project succeed, and if it were to change the perception of a single child, I’d say it will have been a success.”

We love this initiative, and hope it spreads to more schools.

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