In a small town, most elementary students know who the high school students are. However, being in different buildings does not give them many chances to interact. To combat this, a new school program called Chieftain Buddies, which matches an elementary and high school student into a pair of “buddies,” was introduced this year to help grow the bond between high school and elementary students.
“The elementary students already look up to the high school students, and being able to connect with a specific one is very important to them,” student services director Tahler Novotny said. “It also enhances the role model status for high school students.”
Novotny was involved in a similar program when she was a student at Yutan, then called Junior Mates Mentors, which was stopped due to COVID and schedule changes. This personal experience had a major role in her desire to bring the program back.
“I knew the positive impact that I had on the students during my time as a buddy, and I wanted that same thing for this generation of elementary and high school students,” Novotny said. “I asked for interest from the teachers and high school students. When I saw all of the interest, I knew it had to be brought back.”
After sending out a form about the program to the high school students, Novotny matched the ones interested with an elementary student who was referred by either their parents or teachers, and Chieftain Buddies was ready to begin.
“The high school students come down during Chieftain Time once a week to do an activity with the elementary students,” Novotny said. “This can be playing in the gym, going for a walk, reading a book, doing a craft or helping them with their homework.”
Through these simple activities, the high schoolers hope they can provide a support system to these students while building their relationships with them.
“It’s a good way to become closer and get the chance to know them better, and they can open up to you if they don’t have someone else to open up to,” freshman Aniston Hoegh said.
Many students also believe that through additional time with older students, their buddies can develop their social skills as well. Most encourage this by asking their buddies questions to try to learn more about what they like to do.
“[My buddy is] very shy…I ask him a lot of questions about football [and] things he likes to talk about,” sophomore Carson Hollst said. “It helps with communicating so everyone can get along with each other.”
So far, through Chieftain Buddies, relationships have formed into special bonds that are important to both buddies.
“Every time I see [my buddy], her whole face just lights up and she starts rushing to put her stuff away,” junior Molly Besch said.
The elementary students look up to the high schoolers, which makes it very special for them.
“My favorite part of Chieftain Buddies is getting to hang out with the high schoolers because they’re really nice,” fourth grader Harper Eikmeier said. “They’re older and more mature and fun to play with.”
Because of these relationships, high school students do not mind sacrificing their homework time for Chieftain Buddies.
“I can’t hang out with my Chieftain Buddy out of school, but I can do my homework out of school,” sophomore Ella Henkel said. “I just like being able to go every week and be there for them.”
With the success of the program so far, the students are hoping the program will continue in the future and one day their younger buddies will participate once they are in high school.
“I just hope that she remembers it, and she’s like, ‘Oh, wait, I can do this in high school because it happened to me in elementary,’” Besch said.
Novotny also hopes to see the program continue to bring benefits to the high school and elementary students as well as the Yutan community.
“I hope the high school students see the difference they can make in the younger generations and the importance of being a role model in and out of school,” Novotny said. “I hope the elementary students grow in their areas of weaknesses with the assistance of their buddy, bridge the gap between the elementary and the high school and know the difference they can make as a high school student being a buddy one day themselves.”
