In tender memory of a former student, Montessori Public School of Arlington is receiving two “buddy benches” meant to comfort kids and encourage friendships.
Lola Adeyiga, 6, was “the most full of life, outgoing, kind, friendly, smart” kid, her mother Lindsay Adeyiga shared with ARLnow.
If students feel lonely or want friends to play with, they will now be able to sit on the benches in Lola’s honor to signal to peers that they are looking for some friendly company.
“It reflects that they’re looking for some connection or someone to talk to, and then another friend, or classmate, a peer, et cetera, can go sit with them, or grab them to play a game,” the mother said.
The benches, which will stand in the school’s playgrounds after this weekend, are intended to work as “an anti-bullying tactic” to promote empathy and friendship among students.
These are qualities for which Lola, who would have started second grade this year, was well known.
“She just was very, very friendly and had a personality that was kind of beyond her years,” Lindsay Adeyiga said. “And so she connected with people young and old, not just kids her age, but also our neighbors and family members.”
The benches are part of the Adelola Adeyiga Memorial Fund, a project that Lindsay and Leke Adeiyiga started in honor of their daughter after she passed away almost two years ago. Past donations have gone to organizations such as the Arlington Soccer Association and the Animal Welfare League of Arlington.
“It made sense to me that we would have a fund where we could make donations in her name to the local community for causes that she would love, or that she did love, [and] things that were important to her,” Lindsay Adeyiga said.
The benches will be installed over the weekend, before MPSA’s first day of school on Monday, Aug. 26.
“Back to school is hard for parents who have lost a child,” Lindsay Adeyiga said. “Doing something in her honor for people to think about her, and remember her as she should be going off to second grade, is really important — and as hard as it is, also special for us.”
