Four Deer Lakes students earned their Silver Award in Girl Scouts for a project aimed to promote friendship and inclusion at their primary and intermediate schools.

Freshmen Natalie Naugle, Tessa Lovich, Melanie Brown and Alexis Hoburg installed a “buddy bench” at the Curtisville and East Union playgrounds.

The members of Troop 52573 said they wanted to find a way to help students feel less lonely or make new friends at school for their Silver Award project. To qualify for the award, each Girl Scout must complete 50 hours of service. After their Scout leader suggested they check out buddy benches, the group was set on making it a reality.

“We noticed some kids did not have anyone to play with at the playground, and we wanted to change that,” Alexis Hoburg said.

The project was three years in the making.

Each Scout had her own role: Melanie, 13, was the public relations/communications person; Natalie, 14, served as the event rollout coordinator; Tessa, 14, led the instructional video for the benches; and Alexis, 14, worked hands-on with the fabrication of the build and demonstrated how to drill holes.

Alexis said covid delayed progress with the bench. She said the project was left alone for a while, and the girls did Zoom meetings to keep up to date with everything. They originally planned to have the benches ready for the 2021-22 school year.

Building the benches was an on-and-off project for nine to 10 months.

By the time the girls resumed the project last October, the benches were able to be assembled in three hours.

Scout leader Heather Naugle suggested the idea to the girls after searching for Silver Award project ideas.

“That (buddy benches) resonated with them,” Naugle said. “They identified with the playground and looking for a friend.”

She said throughout the project the girls learned patience because of how much longer than anticipated the project took.

Destinee Lovich, another Scout leader, said she was impressed by the girls’ dedication and perseverance through the challenges.

“They were not afraid to redo something for the project,” Lovich said. “I think this was a great project to help them continue to grow.”

More than 50 people turned out for the unveiling July 26 at the East Union Intermediate Center playground.

Natalie said it was nice to see that many people come to applaud their effort.

“I didn’t expect that many to show up,” she said.

Melanie said she was happy a new student in the district attended the event.

“To see her excitement at being able to find a way to make new friends was cool to see,” Melanie said.

East Union Intermediate Principal Jodi VanderSchaaff said it was wonderful to see Deer Lakes students create something to help students coming into middle school after them.

“This will help students have a signal (if they’re) in need of a friend or somebody to play with so that kindness can be extended to the bench,” she said. “We think it will definitely make a difference.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)