CANTON â A new link between the Associated Colleges of the St. Lawrence Valley and area K-12 students is being built to ease pandemic stressors on young learners and their families. Developed as a virtual mentoring and homework support program, the St. Lawrence Buddy Project is a pilot collaboration between St. Lawrence University, SUNY Canton, SUNY Potsdam and the St. Lawrence Youth Bureau. With support from New York State United Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers, the Buddy Projectâs steering committee is led by local educators. âParents have become pseudo-teachers â they have had to balance work, home and Zoom schooling in addition to the emotional and financial stress caused by the pandemic to begin with,â said Sarah A. Solley, SUNY Potsdam assistant professor of elementary education. âTeachers had to change their teaching styles and practices overnight and students had to learn a whole new set of rules and routines. This was also true at the college level. Our students wanted more opportunities to work with children throughout St. Lawrence County. Each member of our committee knew that we needed to provide support for our north country families.â