Buddy Bench

We Choose Love. We Choose Kindness. We Choose Inclusion. We Choose Each Other.

 

Those messages were on the forefront of everyone’s minds as a new Buddy Bench was unveiled at Spencer Elementary School in honor of Malachi James, a former Middletown Public Schools student, lost too soon.

 

    

 

    

 

City and District leaders, community members, students and staff joined family members and loved ones at Spencer Elementary School on Friday, October 9, 2026, to unveil and dedicate the new bench in honor of Malachi. The bench will be installed and used in the main foyer of Spencer.

 

Malachi was a former student at Spencer, and also attended Beman Middle School, and Middletown High School. His life was tragically cut short after a car crash on Christmas Day in 2025.

 

In honor of Malachi and the impact he had on those around him, including his peers, students of all ages, and staff members, Spencer Elementary School, in partnership with numerous organizations, created a permanent memorial to honor his legacy, and his character.

 

      

 

This bench is made possible by the Connor Meaney Young Memorial Fund, the Community Foundation of Middlesex County, the Interfaith Golf Open Tournament, The Rossi Group, Liberty Bank, the Spencer PTA, and Mondo.

The Connor Meaney Young Memorial Fund has been integral in the Buddy Bench Program throughout Middlesex County. In their partnership with the Community Foundation of Middlesex County, they've worked to install new benches in different places to help foster friendship and bring everyone closer together. The organizations help carry out these projects in honor of Connor Meaney Young, a teen from East Haddam who lost his life in a car crash in 2021.
 

The bench will have a plaque installed on it that bears Malachi’s name. The plaque reads:

 

 

In Memory Of

Malachi James, Connor Meaney Young, and the young people we’ve lost too soon.

This bench is a place for kindness, community, laughter, and remembrance.

 

Family members, friends, loved ones, teachers, staff members, and leaders all shared memories of Malachi Friday morning, expressing how much of a kind, warm, and friendly person he was. He was remembered for his bright smile, a warm sense of humor, and the ability to make others feel better through the power of friendship.

 

The Buddy Bench will sit in the front of Spencer School as a symbol of friendship, where students can signal that they need a friend, and someone can choose to reach out and offer that friendship. The bench serves as a reminder to notice, include, connect, and care.