‘Hi buddy’ a welcome greeting

Chimes of “hi buddy!” and furious waving now fill our school and school bus whenever the elementary students see their junior high or high school buddies.

This year at our K-12 school Glacier View, the teachers have paired each older student with a younger student to encourage the older students to be positive role models and develop stronger relationships among the younger and older students. I personally love the idea of having a little buddy for the year.

This year is my senior year and 13th year at Glacier View School. Yes, I have attended since kindergarten. I can remember back to my elementary school days and looking up in awe to the high school students. Back then I thought they were the coolest thing happening. Whatever they did or said, or even wore, made all my friends and I think that’s what we wanted to do when we got to high school.

But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed how easy it is to forget what an impact I do and can have on younger students. Having a younger buddy is a fantastic reminder for all of us older students that we are role models. It’s very evident that the younger students are watching us too, because as soon as they walk into the cafeteria, their eyes are searching for their buddy so they can shout or wave a big hello.

My buddy is a second-grader named Ally. For our first buddy lunch day, she handed me a horse she had drawn and cut out herself and written a sweet note on telling me that she liked to ride horses and asking me if I liked to ride horses too. She also gave me a mandarin orange that she had packed for me in her lunch.

The next buddy lunch I wrote her a little note just on a piece of construction paper because my drawing skills are not quite on par with hers. She took one look at it, grinned and asked me if I could read it to her. It’s a sweet sight to see the little elementary kids practicing their newly acquired writing skills to give their buddy a note and then having their faces light up when their buddy gives them a note back.

Our school has always been unique because the elementary students and junior high and high school students interact on a daily basis. After attending Glacier View for so many years, it’s great to see how the relationships between the younger and older kids only continues to be fostered. All the older students have the opportunity to have a tremendous influence on the younger ones, and so many in our school use that to have a positive influence on them. This school year is just getting started and I’m excited to see what it will all bring and hope to continue to hear “hi buddy!” ringing through school.

Jennifer Lee, 17, is a senior at Glacier View School.