HOULTON, Maine — There is a shiny new addition to Houlton Southside School this year. No, it is not a piece of new playground equipment. Instead, it is something more poignant and perhaps more fitting for today’s generation.
A “Friendship Bench” has been erected at the school near the playground area to offer children who may be feeling sad or lonely an opportunity to make new friends.
Last year, Houlton Southside School received a phone call from Bill and Maryann Marcinak who stated their desire to donate a bench in honor of Maryann’s mother, Betty Childers, a longtime educator and school board rep in the district.
“The ‘Buddy Bench’ or ‘Friendship Bench’ in our case is a nationwide movement to aid in student inclusion and to stomp out bullying,” Peterson said. “We are very fortunate to be the recipient of such a generous donation in memory of a very special lady. I really can’t think of a more significant way to honor Betty Childers.”
Elizabeth (Betty Ann) Childers arrived in Houlton in 1969 and was hired by Superintendent Hamilton Giberson to teach kindergarten in Littleton and Monticello. She moved to the Bowdoin Street School, where she worked until leaving in 1974 to continue her career in Brewer.
After the death of her husband in 1988, Childers returned to the Shiretown and became a member of the school board. She was one of the staunch supporters on the board of seeing Houlton Southside School come to fruition. She died in February.
Peterson said school officials spent time at the beginning of the school year stressing the importance of positive behaviors, as well as peers helping peers, and has already seen the bench working.
“If a kid is feeling like they are not included, or maybe they are just having a rough day, and they just want to find a friend,” she said. “It’s pretty powerful. We have explained to the students that it is not a place to just sit if you are tired. There is a meaning to sitting there.”
Students have enjoyed the new addition.
“It’s nice for kids who may need a friend during recess,” said Mercedes Avery, a fifth-grader at HSS. Avery said she felt the bench was a welcome addition to the school and was looking foward to helping out a peer the first time she sees someone sitting on the bench.
Mariah Peterson, also a fifth-grader at the school, said she has already seen the bench work on one occasion.
“We were out at recess and we saw a third-grader sit down on the bench,” she said. “My friend Grace wanted to go ask the kid to play with her, but she didn’t want to go alone, so she got her best friend to go with her. Then all three just went off and played.”
Makenna Avery, a third-grader, said she liked the bench and is looking forward to asking someone to come play with her.
