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Cambria Elementary School kindergartener Ava Hoffman (left) and Central Cambria High School senior Summer Koss work on activities during the district's buddy program recently.
Jackson Elementary kindergartener Jayda Nicholson and Central Cambria High School senior Kylah Ott sit together while making friendship bracelets together.
Central Cambria High School senior Jakob Zernick and Cambria Elementary kindergartener Lincoln Ruggles work on some crafts.
EBENSBURG -- A program that pairs seniors with a kindergarten student each year is catching on at Central Cambria High School, so much so that the teenagers are looking forward to the activities they'll get to do alongside their much younger buddy, Assistant Principal Lisa Asashon said.
Asashon, who created the school's "buddy" program in 2020, said she wanted to find ways for seniors to build connections with kindergarten students who are "just starting their journey here at Central Cambria."
She pairs seniors with students in Jackson Elementary or Cambria Elementary schools, depending on where the senior attended kindergarten.
The students meet with their buddies several times throughout the school year and complete fun activities to bond and spend time together. So far, they've created friendship bracelets, decorated "red devil" Christmas ornaments and wrote letters to Santa.
Since a couple students, like Taylor Ream, know someone in the kindergarten class, Asashon pairs them together because "it adds a little something extra to it" if the students already have a connection.
For others -- kindergartners and seniors alike -- students report a sense of nervousness until they get to interact with their buddy and learn more about each other.
Ream chose Gracie Pearson as her buddy because she knew her from working an internship at Cambria Elementary School where she visits kindergarteners for about an hour every day.
"It's so cute to see how excited they get," she said of the younger students.
Seniors Madison Hill and Summer Koss said they're planning to study education after high school, and the program is a good experience for them to work with children.
Their favorite part of the program is getting to build stronger relationships with their younger buddies, the duo said.
Kylah Ott said she enjoys spending time with her buddy, Jayda Nicholson, because she doesn't have too many young kids in her family.
"It's a new environment to get used to, and I like talking with the kids," Ott said, adding she was nervous about meeting Nicholson for the first time. "But the second time we got there, it was a lot easier."
After their first meeting, Nicholson said she was worried she might not ever get to see Ott again.
"But I did on the ornament day," she said, adding she has the glitter-covered ornament they made together hanging on her Christmas tree at home.
"When I was putting the ornaments together, I accidentally blew the wrong way, and the glitter went all over my face," Nicholson said. "Then my buddy started to laugh because I blew glitter in my face. My buddy blew all over my face to get all the glitter off, but it didn't work."
Her buddy said her love of playing with glitter goes well beyond the walls of Jackson Elementary School.
"(I) sprinkle it on my hands and blow it on the tree, and my mom says, 'Why are you making the tree sparkly?' and I'll say 'I love sparkles.' I love sparkles so much," the young student said.
Westen Ochenrider, a kindergartener at Jackson Elementary, said he and his buddy, Adam Michalow, talked about their love of Christmas when they decorated their ornaments.
"He's very nice," he said of Michalow. "We were talking about school and when they were in school."
Michalow helped him write his letter to Santa, but Ochenrider said he didn't know what to ask Santa for Christmas this year.
Instead, he wrote a letter to let Santa know he belongs on the "nice list" this year.
"If I can't think of anything, then he can just bring something," he said.
Kindergarten students at Cambria Elementary were excited to spend time together with their buddies, too.
Pearson, Lincoln Ruggles and Harper Soltis said they enjoyed making their friendship bracelets the most.
"I keep it in my room," Soltis said of the bracelet she made with Meladie Rainey.
"I didn't get to keep my friendship bracelet because it wouldn't come off my hand," kindergartener Rylinn Perrone said.
Biological twins Milo and Oliver Makin were torn about their favorite activity with their buddies.
Oliver said he liked decorating his Red Devil Christmas ornament with his buddies Maddox Smith and Blake Williams.
Milo, on the other hand, said he likes the friendship bracelet he made with Kasen Smiley.
"I have it, but I think I lost it," he said.
When Milo Makin met Smiley for the first time, he reportedly pointed to Oliver and said, "That's my brother, and I'm older than him."
In their letters to Santa, Oliver asked for a Nintendo Switch while Milo asked for "a big bouncy house."
As the new year approaches, plans are in place for more buddy meetings.
"The teachers this year are hoping that, if we have a nice snowfall, it would be great to get our kindergarteners and our seniors out there to play in the snow. That's one that may happen this year," Asashon said.
At Easter, the buddies will meet up and participate in an egg hunt.
Their final meeting will take place closer to graduation, when seniors do a memory walk through the district's many buildings.
"In the last couple years, we've been able to let the kindergarteners walk with their senior partners through the buildings," Asashon said, adding kindergarten teachers are always suggesting new ideas for future years
"We try to grow it every year and make it a fun experience for everybody," she said.
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.