Wednesday onwards, there will be a special bench at the elementary school the Trinoom. The “Koosbankje” was unveiled by the student council. It is a bench that children can sit on if they want to be invited to play along.
It was conceived by student Koos, from grade 7. “I used to be pretty slow. Then when I was finally outside after cleaning up, everyone was already playing,” he says. A year later, he came up with the idea for the bench. The bench reads, “Want to play together? “If you sit on this, then other children can ask you if you want to play with them, or they can sit next to you to chat,” he explains.
Together with the student council, Koos fleshed out the idea. “I thought it was a good idea,” says student Pia of the council. “First we had to figure out exactly how we were going to do it. The first idea was a sign.” In the end, it turned out to be a bench. The principal is proud of the students. “I’m incredibly proud. It’s great,” Bernie Kooistra says. “Also how they think about the details and about the execution, how it’s going to look. They all thought about that.”
Shy
Most students ask if they can play along, but for some, it is more difficult. “There are 600 students here, spread over three buildings. By the time you get outside sometimes everyone is already playing,” the principal explains. “This bench is more for shy and introverted kids. They don’t have to ask, but just sit on it.”
“Sometimes my friends are already playing, and then I don’t know who to play with. But if you sit here you can’t be rejected, because you sit here. After all, you want to play and the kids ask because they want to play with you,” says Lise, who is also on the student council.
Koos is proud of his bench. “Everyone is talking about it, and I already saw many people sitting on it,” he concludes.
Source: Studio040
Translated By: Chaitali Sengupta
