People find inspiration in all kinds of places. Some people are inspired by athletes, others are inspired by books. I鈥檓 inspired by movies, and I鈥檓 not alone. Recently we met Nicholas, who is a fourth grader at Central Trail Elementary School in Sylvania, and he told us about how the movie Ron鈥檚 Gone Wrong inspired him to help his classmates feel welcome.
In the movie, Barney gets a robot named Ron, and it has a bit of a malfunction鈥� Well, we have a no spoiler alerts rule here at NewsDepth, so that鈥檚 as much as we鈥檙e going to say about the movie. Anyway, Nicholas told us that he realized that a lot of kids at recess were playing by themselves and he was feeling inspired by Barney and Ron to come up with a plan to help his classmates make new friends. That鈥檚 when it hit him. He came up with the idea for a 鈥渂uddy bench.鈥�
A buddy bench is a bench where kids who are looking for friends to play with a recess can sit and other kids will invite them to play. I think that鈥檚 a really good idea and would have loved to have a buddy bench when I was in school.
Nicholas realized that it wouldn鈥檛 be as simple as just buying a bench and putting it on the playground. He first shared his idea with Ms. Blakeman, his school counselor. She loved the idea and and suggested they have lunch with the school鈥檚 principal, Mr. Blust, to share his plan and get permission. Nicholas was ready for the conversation with Mr. Blust. He had a fundraising plan ready to go, and he knew that he鈥檇 have to motivate his classmates to donate money. He also knew that the bench had to meet the safety requirements for it to be allowed on the playground.
Nicholas proposed that the classes in the school participate in a penny way to earn money. He told us that his classmates earned over $2000, which is enough money to buy the bench they need. While we鈥檙e talking about the penny war, we want to send our congratulations out to Ms. Sulewski鈥檚 kindergarten class for being the champions and earning a dance party with icecream as their prize.
Nicholas told us that he鈥檚 excited for the ribbon cutting for the bench, which will take place this spring. He鈥檚 really proud that his hard work will help his classmates make new friends. When he鈥檚 not planning fundraisers for new playground equipment, Nicholas told us he likes to play Fortnite and Roblox, and that he really enjoys tennis. He shared that watching NewsDepth is his favorite thing about school. We hope so, buddy.
This week鈥檚 A+ Award goes to Nicholas at Central Trail Elementary School for helping his classmates make new friends. Congratulations and keep up the great work!
