At Sag Harbor Elementary, a mentorship program between the kindergarten and fifth-grade classes has been a staple experience for many years. Each year, kindergarten students are matched with a fifth-grade “buddy” who guides them and helps them with activities throughout the academic year.
Activities that the two grades might collaborate on include reading books, tackling art projects, helping each other count to 100 for the 100th day of school, and much more. One activity that brought a lot of excitement to the students included the program’s annual Buddy Skate.
Students in both grades rode the bus to the Buckskill Winter Club in East Hampton for a day of skating. Kindergarteners with the help of their fifth-grade buddies skated loops around the rink. When asked, two kindergarten students in Kate Montaldo’s class exclaimed that they fell only once or twice and had a great time.
For the Sag Harbor Elementary students, the buddy program brings a sense of community across the grades. These experiences are then carried with the students as they continue to grow and graduate to the next grade.
Photo caption: Sag Harbor Elementary’s fifth-grade students pose during their Buddy Skate field trip with the kindergarteners at the Buckskill Winter Club in East Hampton.