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KB's Blog

Have you ever been the new kid at a school? I have, and it can be really hard to make friends. I spent the first horrible week at school being picked on. Things have gotten much better, so I thought I should share some ideas of what my friends and I are doing at school to help make sure that nobody is an “outsider.”

My best friend, Melanie, and I thought we should start by doing something to help out other new kids at school so they don’t have to go through what I did. We met with our favorite teacher, Mr. Bittner, and we came up with the idea of “Springdale Friends.” The way this works is that when a new student starts at the school, he or she is matched up with a few members of our “Springdale Friends” club who are in the same grade. We show the new student around, introduce them to other kids and teachers, and hang out with them during lunch and breaks.

Oops. I’m late for soccer practice and my mom is waiting in the car. More later!

From Melanie: We also help them to learn about after-school activities that they might want to get involved in. Mr. Bittner and our principal have been really cool, and they have had lots of good ideas for our “Springdale Friends.” They also asked us to meet with the Bullying Prevention Team at the school to get our ideas about how the school can be more welcoming to students and to make sure that everyone has a friend.

From KB: Thanks, Mel! We’re just getting started, feel free to take this idea and start a program at your school. We’ll keep you updated on what we’re doing!