Best Buddies Are Best Friends
Madison City Schools is the first school chapter in Alabama to be among the 2,500 chapters world wide of the Best Buddies, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating the opportunities for best buddies to become natural friendships and to assist those with disabilities conquer their fears of not fitting in. The local organization began forming into place last school year and officially joined the international organization in April and ended the school season with a Best Buddy Bash, which had over 150 students from both high schools and middle schools and the elementary schools in Madison attend.
To kick off the 2018-2019 school year, the Best Buddies program hosted a Back-To-School Luau with the support of music provided by WZYP-FM Radio. The second event was held at the seventh annual Bob Jones versus James Clemens football game where the organizations from each school ran out onto the football playing field and met at midfield. The meeting of the two squads was filled with excitement, smiles and friendships.
“It was a great way for our kids to have the opportunity to experience what it may be like to play football and to run out onto our City’s field,” said Jenny Evers, whose 12-year old son, Samuel, has found a Best Buddy in Reed Wilson. “They developed a friendship in second grade and Reed has always cared for and looked out for Samuel in the most amazing ways. When Reed came along we knew we had to make the Best Buddies program happen, because everyone needs a buddy like Reed.”
“The best part of the efforts is the fact this is a student run organization and the students plan all of the events,” said Michelle Hyams, Job Coach/Homebound for the Madison City Schools and acting advisor for the Best Buddies. “An interesting portion of the organization is due to the small population of students in delayed units (special needs) at Bob Jones, the school does not have an official Best Buddies so they partnered with James Clemens. It’s fascinating to see the delayed unit students work with the Best Buddies students and form together at both schools, despite the rich and big rivalry between the two schools.”
The Best Buddies program serves a group of those in need, including students with Down syndrome, autism, Fragile X, Williams syndrome, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and other undiagnosed disabilities. Best Buddies is the world’s largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Those students team up with those more fortunate and immediate friendships are grown like flowers on a spring day.
In July, just prior to the start of the new school year, one teacher and one special student attended the national conference of the Best Buddies in Indiana. There, lessons were learned on how to achieve the goals of each chapter and how to follow the guidelines set up by the international organization.
“Events held by the local chapter, which includes both high schools and middle schools in Madison, are supported by Asbury Thrift Store, which makes sure every student is financially able to attend any of the scheduled events,” said Hyams. “Some of the IDD students just don’t have the money to pay admission to events, so Asbury makes sure everyone who wants to attend can do so.”
The local chapter has numerous events which will be added to an upcoming schedule. Those events include a spring dance, cupcake wars, attending a basketball and baseball game, movie night at the schools and attending both the Bob Jones and James Clemens Homecoming Parades. Best Buddies is also selling T-shirts for awareness of how the organization helps those in need.
“Sometimes it’s not that people don’t want to assist, they just don’t always know how to approach those with special needs,” added Evers. “Once they do, they realize we really are more alike than different.”
“Our goal is to successfully allow students to run the chapter as many have the heart to participate, but it’s difficult to stand up for the underdogs,” said Hymas. “The experience is eye-opening. For many of these students it’s life-changing to have a friend…a buddy.”
