Clare is a third grader at Hoover Elementary School in Dubuque, Iowa. She often saw some!body outside during a class break, sitting alone and not having any friends to play with. When see!ing this scene,she felt bothered,for in her mind everybody in the world needed friends. That was why Clare came up with an idea -- "a buddy bench". Buddy benches have been tried at other schools. In 2012, a girl named Acacia came up with the idea of the friendship bench with her parents' help. The students found it was something that was badly needed. Many students went there and found their friends. Other students learnt the importance of social communication with the words,like"hope","respect","listen"and"dream",painted on the benches. The friendship bench was also praised by teachers there. Clare thinks her school also needs such benches. So she has been working on raising the mon!ey to pay for the benches and talking with school officials about getting them installed. "They are certainly something that I think will be great additions to our school, "said Claret principal , Kath!leen. ^Clare thinks that everybody needs friends, " said her mom, Tricia. "Moreover , she wants everybody to be her friends. Clare had been inspired by her elder sister who is disabled. ""Having seen her sister's struggles,she understood what other kids felt when they were struggling. Clare didn't want to see her sister or anybody else struggle." As the actor Will Rogers said,"A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet. "That's appar!ently how Clare sees people as well. "I hope that I can have thousands and thousands of friends, " Clare said. "Everybody needs friends. " Buddy benches will be added to Clare's school to_.
remind students of their old friends help students improve their communication provide students with more activities to relax offer students more chances to make friends