A Lake County elementary school is helping students find friends on the playground with a "Buddy Bench."

  • Mount Dora resident installs 'Buddy Bench' at elementary school
  • Bench is designed to bring students who need a friend together
  • Triangle Elementary plans to install more Buddy Benches

Students at Triangle Elementary in Mount Dora know that if you sit on the bench, you're looking for other students to play with.

"You're alone here someone comes up and sits with you and ask you to do something," student Kate Sywenki said.

It's called the Buddy Bench, and the school says the idea has been replicated at schools across the country.

Bill Wasner lives in the Lakes of Mount Dora and came up with the idea.

"It just seemed like a great way... it had a proven track record to get kids involved and to meet other kids and make friends," Wasner said.

​Wasner got help from the woodworking club in his community, and they donated the bench to the school last week.

School officials say students use it daily.

"Someone called me crazy, I sat on here, and that same person that called me crazy came up and said sorry," student Jarvis Demond Walker Jr. said.

The school plans to paint the bench with the words, "Lend a helping hand."

Triangle Elementary officials say the school will get a few more Buddy Benches.

Round Lake Charter in Mount Dora and Tavares elementary schools are next.