Buddy system at Westhampton Beach Elementary School aids team learning

Hurricane Buddies is an activity students do at Westhampton Beach Elementary School. This activity is named Hurricane Buddies because Westhampton Beach is the home of the Hurricanes.

Classes in the elementary school meet with another class, and every kid gets a buddy. Once a month you get together and do an activity. This year, my fifth-grade class is partnered with a third-grade class.

Hurricane Buddies is one of my favorite activities we do all year. The first activity we did this year was the teacher called out a question, and we told our buddy our answer. Maybe the question asks what our favorite color is, and we would tell our buddy our favorite color.

Another activity we did this year was to write goals for ourselves, and also how we could achieve the goals. Last year in fourth grade, my favorite activity was working with a partner or a small group to come up with a station. Our Hurricane Buddies rotated around the class and visited every station. This is a fun and amazing activity. 

Jennifer Kulesa-Kast’s fifth-grade class, Westhampton Beach Elementary School