Partnerships
SCSU Buddy Program
Approximately 80 second and third graders from District 742’s Lincoln
Elementary School team up annually with School of Education students in
a Service Learning Project called the SCSU Buddy Program. Once a week,
students meet for 30 minutes on a one-on-one visit with a designated child.
During this experience Lincoln students learn and practice appropriate social
skills and grow in their problem solving and decision making skills. Literacy
is emphasized through multiple instructional strategies and the sharing of
children’s literature. Children at Lincoln often tell their SCSU Buddies
they would never be absent on a Buddy Day! Every child in a classroom receives
a Buddy and this one-on-one time is reported to be a highlight of the week.
SCSU students also learn. One student remarked, “I learned so much
about myself through my Buddy – things I couldn’t have learned
in a college classroom alone! Being able to have a connection with a child
is a remarkable feeling. Dr. Kathy Ofstedal directs the Buddy Program.
