Elementary school students build bench with secret compartment to share messages of kindness
Wesley is reflecting on that day he started falling off the monkey bars at school.
“My leg got stuck,” the nine-year-old says, before adding that the rest of his limbs were being pulled to the ground by gravity.
“It felt like quicksand. Not good.”
Before we can appreciate the end of Wesley’s story, we need to know about the beginning of the bench he’s sitting on.
“We made it with power tools,” Wesley smiles, before imitating the noises each one made. “The electric sander sounds like ghzeeeee!”
Wesley built the bench with his classmates at the James Bay Community School, including Tesekla.
“It was so much fun,” Tesekla smiles, adding that painting the bench like a rainbow was her favourite part.
“I wish we made them every day!”
The project was part of their teacher Alyson King’s plan to create a place for positivity in the school, with a twist.
“Generally, these ‘Buddy Benches’ create places to where [students] can get a friend,” Alyson explains.
While their bench has certainly proven to be a venue for comfort, calm, and connection, there’s more.
“There’s a secret compartment!” Tesekla exclaims.
Alyson says the rainbow bench is all about empowering kids to cultivate kindness
“This compartment contains notes of gratitude to each other,” Alyson says, pointing to a plastic tube hidden underneath the bench.
All the students in the school can take a paper form that’s available available in every classroom, pen something positive about someone else, and deposit the note in that secret compartment underneath the rainbow bench.
“Showing kindness makes me feel really good,” Tesekla says. “And it makes other people feel really good too.”
Alyson empties the secret compartment daily and reads every note.
They range from “I really like your hat” and “thanks for helping me with my math” to “thank you for playing with me when no one wanted to play with me.”
“For these kids to recognize that they have a capacity to help their peers is pretty amazing,” Alyson smiles.
Every Thursday, the principal Marla Margetts shares some of the notes with the whole school during the morning announcements.
“The fact that they have such confidence to just say, ‘Hey, I love you,’ ‘You’re helpful,’ ‘You’re kind,’” Marla smiles. “We can learn a lot from kids."
That brings us back to Wesley, who says that he was saved from his monkey bars/quicksand predicament by a fellow student.
“Tosh came and pulled me out,” Wesley smiles. “It was really heroic of him and just wanted to thank him.”
So Wesley thanked him with a note full of grateful gold at the end of the rainbow bench.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Bob Cole, veteran CBC broadcaster and former voice of 'Hockey Night in Canada,' dead at 90
Bob Cole, legendary CBC broadcaster and former voice of Hockey Night in Canada, has died. He was 90.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.