- May 13, 2025
Buddy Taylor Middle School Principal Cara Cronk gets ready to cut the ribbon for the Buddy Benches with help from a member of the Eagles in Action Conservation Club. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Buddy Taylor Middle School Principal Cara Cronk cuts the ribbon on the Buddy Benches with help from a member of the Eagles in Action Conservation Club. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Adam Fenty-Graifer (behind podium) gets ready to introduce the Buddy Benches ribbon cutting with other members of Buddy Taylor Middle School's Eagles in Action Conservation Club. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Through a Flagler County Education Foundation grant the BTMS Eagles in Action Conservation Club installed planters and planted trees around the new Buddy Benches. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Two members of Buddy Taylor Middle School's Eagles in Action Conservation Club relax on one of the new Buddy Benches. Photo by Brent Woronoff
One of two new Buddy Benches made from recycled bottle caps in a newly landscaped area in the courtyard at Buddy Taylor Middle School. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Eagles in Action Conservation Club members get ready for the Buddy Benches ribbon cutting with club sponsors Bonnie Adair (left) and Ellen Asher (right). Photo by Brent Woronoff
A two-year project by Buddy Taylor Middle School's Eagles in Action Conservation Club came to fruition Monday, April 21, with the ribbon cutting for two "Buddy Benches" in a newly landscaped corner of the school's courtyard.
The Buddy Benches were made from over 500 pounds of recycled plastic bottle caps that club members, the student body, faculty and staff and friends and families spent a year collecting.
Club advisors Ellen Asher and Bonnie Adair filled a large U-Haul with the bottle caps and drove up to an Indiana recycling plant where the thousands of bottle caps were transformed into two benches — one yellow, one blue.
In the second year, as club members waited on the benches to arrive, a grassy area where the benches would be placed was landscaped with planters, trees and pavers.
"The area is a peaceful place where students can enjoy friendship or read a book. There was nothing here," Asher said. "We planted flowers and two trees and already there are caterpillars."
The Eagles in Action Conservation Club concentrates on sustainability and appreciation for the Earth, Asher said. The ribbon cutting was scheduled for the day before Earth Day. Seventh grader Adam Fenty-Graifer introduced the project to invited guests, and Principal Cara Cronk cut the ribbon.
The club members weighed and sorted and cleaned the caps all last year, and they surpassed their goal of collecting 500 pounds of plastic caps, Fenty-Graifer said.
The students had lists of what kinds of caps were acceptable and what weren't.
"The kids (in the club) wanted to do a project that fostered a partnership with the students. Everybody was collecting," Asher said.
The Flagler County Education Foundation provided the club with a Beaver Toyota grant that paid for the benches, the trip to Indiana and the planters. The Lowe's Home Improvement Store in Palm Coast donated the plants, Asher said.
Asher looked over the colorful plants and colorful benches. "The kids want to be out here," she said. "It's really heartwarming."
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