On Thursday, March 16, 2023, the current A.G. Richardson (AGR) Student Council Association (SCA), along with last year’s SCA officers, held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the school’s new buddy benches. Assistant Principal Erica Hoy led the ceremony with former SCA Sponsor Nick Anderson, who came back from Eastern View High School for this exciting event.
Current AGR SCA President Natalie Deal and last year’s SCA President Tenley Rendell cut the ribbon together on the first of two benches. The second bench, scheduled to be completed soon, will match the first except for black lettering on the back.
The benches, made by former AGR parent Roque Castro, were the result of a student-led project by the 2022-2023 AGR SCA. Castro made the templates for the handprints with last year’s SCA and added more at AGR’s STEM night on February 9, 2023. At that event, he had a bench building station that highlighted the process of his building of Buddy Benches. Castro showed attendees the benches, which were about 80% complete at the time. He traced some students' hands from the event to use as templates on a laser cutter to decorate the bench.
This project started last year when the SCA decided to host a talent show to raise money for the benches and other playground equipment. Tenley Rendell, who is now a sixth-grade student at Floyd T. Binns Middle School, explained, “If you don’t know what a buddy bench is it is a bench that you can sit on if you are shy, lonely, or a new student. If someone sees you sitting there they can ask you if you want to play.” After the SCA Talent Show, which was an amazing event, Castro and his wife, Beth, decided to fully cover the costs of the benches so that the talent show money could be used for other playground items that the students wanted to purchase.
To start the bench project, Castro met with the SCA students to design the benches. The students established the following criteria for their benches.
- Something unique - not your average park bench
- Sturdy and rugged enough to withstand the outdoor elements
- Finished in the school colors of red & black
- Incorporate hand prints of SCA members
Castro used this project as an opportunity to learn new skills and enrolled in a 24-week SOLIDWORKS CAD Software class at New Pathways Tech (https://newpathwaystech.com), a machinist trade school located in Culpeper County. During this course, he learned how to design the bench in steel and sheet metal, and draft detailed measurements to be used in the manufacturing process - all done on software before actually getting dirty and working with metal. The SOLIDWORKS drawings were converted into a software format that can be utilized by various CNC (Computer Numeric Control) Machines.
After completing the SOLIDWORKS course, Castro enlisted the help of a friend, and community supporter, Chuck Bates, owner of Culpeper Auto Salvage. Chuck operates a metal fabrication facility and has two large piece of machinery that were necessary to build these benches.
At the ribbon cutting, the students were thrilled to see their idea come to life. Rendell, along with her FTB classmates and fellow former AGR SCA officers, Livia Castro, and Alex Lesicka, came back to their elementary school to be a part of the event. Hoy and Anderson both spoke at the event, commending the students for making a plan that would make a difference for the kids at the school, and then following through and making it happen. A.G. Richardson also expressed gratitude to the Castro family, who covered to the cost of the project and to community member Chuck Bates, who worked with Castro to build the benches.
