By Ashley McLeod, staff writer
Nov 30, 2015, 13:39
COLONIAL HEIGHTS — Nestled in the corner of the playground outside of Tussing Elementary School you will find a very large, very out of place, not so normal symbol of friendship, and the students know exactly what the purpose behind it is.
What is now known as “Friendship Rock” is a symbol to students at the school to reach out and make friends with one another, and to make sure that no one is left alone.
The idea behind the friendship rock began in late summer, early fall. It all started when Tussing Elementary School principal David Staples was visiting the Colonial Heights Library, and Bruce Hanson, director of the library, showed him a video of a newscast about a school in Massachusetts.
“A group of friends had found a tiny little rock on the playground, and with sticks and spoons they tried to dig this rock out,” said Staples.
The group of second-graders went out for recess every day and continued to try and dig the rock out. This continued for their whole time at the elementary school. But the small rock turned out to be a lot bigger than the friends had anticipated.
When the group of friends moved on to middle school, the principal saw their work and thought that it was a great show of what teamwork and friendship can accomplish. He then decided to finish their work of digging out the rock, though not with plastic spoons and sticks, but with heavy equipment. The rock now sits at that school as a symbol of their friendship and teamwork during their tenure at the school.
“When I saw that video I thought ‘I would love to have one at Tussing,’” said Staples.
Staples questioned where he would find a rock big enough to serve this purpose at Tussing, and that was also safe enough so that no child would be injured from it.
In an event that seemed like an act of fate, someone had just donated piles of rocks to the Parks and Recreation Department, who told Staples he was more than welcome to come and try and find one that would fit his needs.
As it turns out, he found just what he was looking for.
“It was kind of sitting over all by itself, and it was perfect,” said Staples.
The large rock was big enough, but not too big. It was small enough for children to sit on, but not too small. The smoothness of the rock helped to ease worries of jagged edges hurting the children on the playground.
Approximately one month ago, the Colonial Heights maintenance team picked up and delivered the new piece to the playground.
But getting the children to understand the purpose of the rock was another piece of the story, which Staples said was no problem at all.
“We do a character thought for the day every day, and once the rock was in place, we announced it,” said Staples.
The school made posters explaining the purpose, and some teachers even showed their classes the original newscast of the school in Massachusetts. Now, the students all know that if they’re having a bad day, or have no one to play with, that’s the place to go. If a student sees another student sitting on the rock, they know to approach them and invite them to join in their fun.
“It’s a visual. They know that the rock is about friendship and supporting each other,” said Staples.
Staples also said that Tussing is home to a lot of students with significant intellectual disabilities, so the student population is already very accepting. But some students are not as open to verbally communicating their bad day, and with the addition of the friendship rock, now they don’t have to.
“It’s a no questions asked type thing, other than, ‘Hey, do you want to play with us?’ Even if they don’t, it’s also a visual reminder that they need to be friends,” said Staples.
So far the rock has had a positive influence on a lot of students at Tussing. Staples said he has even witnessed a child sitting on the rock alone, and watched what happened.
“At first I thought, why isn’t somebody going over? And right as I was opening the door to say something, another little girl came up and talked to her, and then next thing I knew they took off together,” said Staples.
The friendship rock has become a symbol for the elementary students to spread friendship and love to one another, and to never let someone who is feeling down continue to feel that way. It’s a place for any child who has no one to play with to go to, knowing that someone will come along and help to make their day brighter.
“Kids, especially at this age, they’re wonderful. They don’t see the issues of different children, and they’re very accepting. They just see that somebody needs someone to play with, so they run over,” said Staples. “And I’m pretty stoked about it.”
