Kenowa Hills — At Kenowa Hills’ Early Childhood Center, preschooler Aurora played dress up recently with her high-school buddy, freshman Brielyn Nelson.
A bucket of different colored plastic connecting rings between them, Brielyn and Aurora took turns picking out a colored ring and adding it to their growing chain necklaces.
“I think you need a bracelet to go with your necklace,” Brielyn said to her young friend, and helped her fashion a matching bracelet.
In other areas of the classroom, high-school students and preschoolers ages 3 to 5 played with toys, read books and colored pictures together. Around 20 students signed up to visit the ECC during their high-schools’ enrichment day through the new Buddy Up program.
KHHS Principal Nathan Robrahn teamed up with the ECC’s Learning Center and School Age Program Director Cali Lipscomb to create the mentorship program between the district’s newest and most experienced learners.
Robrahn said several students signed up to spend their enrichment day with ECC students, and got their friends to sign up too.
“Our kids are really engaged in this program, even if they’re not super engaged at school,” he said. “We have ninth- through twelfth-graders involved, and it’s another way to build connections between younger and older students.”
Robrahn said he hopes to have the group of “buddies” visit the ECC two more times this school year.
Becoming Best Buddies
During their first visit to ECC classrooms, Buddy Up students followed the lead of 3, 4 and 5-year-olds and named all the Paw Patrol dogs, read books about gingerbread men and completed tricky puzzles.
Sophomore and former ECC student Macey Lipscomb remembered fondly her time as a preschooler, and said her positive experience inspired her to go back and mentor younger kids.
“Growing up in the ECC has different experiences for all people, but what was best about mine was the opportunities I was able to have to learn and grow,” Macey said. “Now that I’m volunteering I get to watch younger kids have the same experiences, but better.”
Cali Lipscomb — also Macey’s mom — said the Buddy Up program fosters important interactions between the “big kids” and the “little kids.”
“It’s important for little children to see bigger kids modeling positive behaviors. They’re like superheroes to them,” she said.
She also said having the juniors and seniors visit gives them a taste of what a career in early childhood education looks like.
Lipscomb added: “Overall, it’s a really cool program that we plan to continue.”
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