Seaford Harbor Students Unveil Buddy Bench

SEAFORD, NY. — Seaford Harbor Elementary School students joined district and school administrators, parents and teachers Thursday to unveil the newest addition to their campus, the “buddy bench."

The bench is the brain child of students in Deirdre Baldassarre’s second-grade class, who wrote letters to administration asking for a bench this past spring as part of an in-class unit on persuasive writing. The goal of a bench, Baldassarre said, was the result of group discussion in her classroom.

According to administrators at Seaford Harbor, the plan became more than just a writing assignment as the students’ arguments took shape.

“Last year, I had the privilege of visiting Ms. Baldassarre’s classroom to hear her
students’ persuasive writing pieces on why the Harbor School should have a buddy bench,”
Principal Jennifer Bisulca said. “Their arguments were thoughtful, compelling and filled with heart and it was clear their passion was a direct reflection of the guidance and inspiration they received from their teacher. From that moment, we knew this bench had to become a reality.”

Part of the dedication ceremony included a presentation from students detailing how the project went from vision to completion. The school partnered with the Harbor PTA to secure funding for the project, which was on display after the presentation.

“It was so amazing to see that our hard work paid off and our voices were heard,”
Gibson Takseraas said.

When the time came, Baldassarre joined her students behind the bench to cut the ribbon on the new campus fixture. Baldassarre is retiring at the end of December, and district officials said it was, “important to have the buddy bench installed and available for students to use before she
officially ends her teaching tenure.”

The “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” buddy bench now sits next to the playground at Seaford Harbor Elementary.