Lunch Buddy Program Has Impact On Grace, Jefferson Students
Lunch Buddy Program Has Impact On Grace, Jefferson Students
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Lunch Buddy Program Has Impact On Grace, Jefferson StudentsWINONA LAKE - Grace College senior Kye Barrett and Jefferson Elementary third-grader Noah Gibbs have their own handshake.
“He loves to go and show all of his friends and all of his teachers and stuff,” Barrett said Tuesday in an interview at Jefferson.
The two became Lunch Buddies in the spring during the last school year and are continuing that friendship this school year. They are one of about 40 pairs of Grace and Jefferson students taking part in the Lunch Buddy program this year.
Josh Wall, Jefferson principal, said the Lunch Buddy program started last year coming off Covid.
“I reached out to (Grace College School of Education Dean) Cheryl Bremer and she said, ‘What if we could get some students who are mentoring, doing a Lunch Buddy program, coming in and having lunch with some of our kids who might need a buddy?’ I said, ‘That’s fantastic. Let’s do it,’” he recalled.
From there, the Grace Student Organization (GSO) took over with Madison Cowman, public relations and content manager at Grace, and Kearstin Criswell, Grace director of student involvement, and decided the Lunch Buddy program was something that they could do.
“So at the start of the year at Grace College they had a fair and, my understanding is, kids could get linked in to different organizations, different clubs, programs. And the GSO said one of those opportunities was coming to Jefferson and being a Lunch Buddy,” Wall said.
Over 50 students signed up and that list was passed on to Wall from Cowman to match the Grace students with Jefferson kids who might need a buddy.
Wall said they started receiving teacher input about what kids might most need a buddy. Jefferson school secretary Kaitlyn Terpstra was instrumental in adding and getting names and thinking about what kids would be most impacted by having a buddy, he said.
“It’s been amazing to see what GSO has done to just really grow the number of students that have been able to participate. And we’ve seen it now impact - I believe we’re at over 40 of our kids being impacted through this program,” Wall said. “It’s just a very informal and impromptu kind of thing that enables this partnership both between Grace and Jefferson. Ultimately, I know it impacts our kids and I think if we talked to Kye and some of the other kids, it impacts them as well. I think it’s a mutually beneficial program where our kids are getting poured into and loved and cared for and know that somebody cares about them more than just academics.”
He said he thinks the Grace students are getting something out of it, too.
Barrett said he normally goes over to Jefferson once a week just because of his schedule with work, classes and sports. If he’s a little bit more free, he might stop in two or three times in a week.
“I sit there and hang out with all the kids, and then they go to recess right after so I’ll go out to recess with them,” Barrett said.
A fourth-year student at Grace, Barrett is an exercise science major who will graduate with his Master of Business Administration as well. He plays tennis and runs track. He and Gibbs were partnered up last year when Gibbs was a second-grader.
“It’s been really, really fun. We’ve gotten along really well and it’s been cool to have like a good connection with him, so then I had requested to stay with him for this year and come back,” Barrett said.
Through lunch and recess with Gibbs, Barrett said he’s gotten to know some of the other third-graders a little as well. He said their topics of conversation depends on which other kids they’re sitting by.
“The kids are very sporadic on what they want to talk about, so sometimes it’s their football game that happened, sometimes it’s - I’ll always ask them what they did at class, what they’re doing with that. And sometimes, too, there’ll be kids that will just randomly talk about something that is really personal in their lives and I’ll be like, ‘OK,’” Barrett said.
He said it was really cool to be able to, in every aspect, pour into them.
“A lot of times some of the kids don’t get as much attention at home and don’t get that same connection, so it’s important to me to make sure they get that. All of the kids and not just Noah, my buddy, but everyone gets it,” Barrett said.
For him, Barrett said there’s nothing that makes him feel better than being able to have an impact on someone else. Growing up, he recognizes he was fortunate enough to have a very loving and supporting home, but he knows not every kid has that.
“With other programs I’ve done with helping kids, whether it’s through church or whatever it may be, through school, I know how important it is for kids like this age to have either a positive role model or ... just feeling love. So that’s my biggest thing. So the impact it’s had on my life is very bigger than I think it could have on any kids’ life because it motivates me in everything I do,” Barrett said.
The Grace school year ends a month before Warsaw schools finish. Barrett said he will stay in the area until the end of Warsaw’s school year but then will be moving to Virginia to marry his fiance this summer.
Barrett said it will be tough to leave. “It’s just as important for me to want to be here as I know it is for him to want me to be here,” he said.
The impact Barrett and Gibbs have had on each other is evident, he said.
“Because of my tennis schedule at the beginning of this (school) year, I wasn’t able to get here very much in the first few weeks of school,” Barrett said. “It got me a little emotional when I got there. Noah came up the first day I saw him and gave me a big hug. He was almost crying and he was like, ‘I didn’t know if you were coming this year.’ And the same with all the kids my first day. It makes me feel like a little bit of a celebrity when all the kids are like, ‘Kye! Kye! Kye!’ But it’s something that I’ll never take for granted.”
He said the impact that every kid has on their buddy is big and important. “I think I can confidentially speak on behalf of all the Grace students of how much an impact it has,” Barrett said.
Wall said to Barrett, “That’s one thing I want to reiterate is just how blessed we feel by you guys, truly. The school, the staff, the students, we really feel blessed and honored to have you here.”
He said that while the Lunch Buddy program reaches out to the students who are underserved, every child could use a buddy and mentor. About 48-49% of Jefferson’s students are in the free and/or reduced lunch program.
Big Brothers Big Sisters still has a huge impact at Jefferson, Wall said. He said they’re very intentional and rigorous about matching Bigs with Littles. Lunch Buddies is more of an informal program that has led to relationships organically.
“This isn’t instead of Big Brothers Big Sisters. That exists as well. This is an enrichment above and beyond,” said Amanda Scroggs, Warsaw Community Schools director of communications.
Wall thanked Grace College, starting with President Dr. Drew Flamm and his influence all the way to the GSO, Criswell, Cowman, Bremer and all the people that made the Lunch Buddy program happen.
“Particularly, the Grace Student Organization who have brought this to life and who brought it to their career fair and made it an important part to partner with Jefferson and say, ‘getting to know and mentoring these kids is important’ and sharing that news,” Wall said.
He said he’d love to see the program grow with as many Grace students come through the Jefferson door as possible.
“If we could continue to double it in the way that it has, it would be absolutely incredible. Next year, if we could get up to 80, we have 450 kids in our enrollment. What if every kid could have a buddy? Not just our underserved kids but every student could walk through our doors and could have a buddy would be the ultimate dream,” Wall said.
If a parent wants their student to have a Lunch Buddy, they should contact the school. A background check is done on everyone who wants to be a Lunch Buddy or Big Brother Big Sister.
