A special Buddy Bench dedication at Jackson Elementary School this week as teachers followed up on a project the Dove sisters, Lily and Bailey, envisioned when they were in the third grade.
Teacher Jane Esselman had all the girls, including Maddie, when they were in third grade. “At the time Lily was the one diagnosed with childhood cancer and they were just caring girls who went to Mrs. Angela Borst and they wanted to focus on something good,” said Esselman about the Buddy Bench.
Borst said in March 2014 the sisters came to the school office and expressed interest in creating the bench. “Life got a little bit away from us but we were sprucing up the playground this year and thought the Buddy Bench would be a perfect addition,” she said.
During the gathering Tuesday afternoon Esselman and Borst presented the girls with a clipping from the Scholastic News; the educational magazine where the girls originally saw the idea for the bench. The framed gift tied with an orange ribbon also included photos of the Buddy Bench.
The Dove sisters, Lily and Bailey, are now in sixth grade at Silverbrook Intermediate School.