The first Best Buddies event, the Match Party, took place on Tuesday, October 24th in the Arrowhead South campus cafeteria. The event took place from five to seven pm. This event included painting pumpkins, taking pictures in a photo booth, enjoying pizza, playing games, having a dance party, being around friends, and making new ones.

The Match Party was an organized event introducing everybody in the club, and assigning students into ‘families’ with five or six students paired up with one child with disability. These families will stay together for the duration of the school year, given that someone doesn’t stop participating. Families were assigned this year because in the past, students have not that much time to spend with their buddy, says sophomore Bella Krug-WagnerThis year they created buddies so that many people can get together with their buddy, not just one person.

Best Buddies is an organization nationwide that connects kids with disabilities to kids without disabilities. The organization helps the kids create friendships that can last a lifetime, and is honored to watch them strengthen and grow. About 150 of Arrowhead’s students are a part of this program at Arrowhead.

One challenge that Best Buddies staff advisor Kim Dion found with this event was attendance.

“Don’t get me wrong it’s wonderful, but we need a bigger space,” she said.

Sophomore Eily Brumder said, “Wow! That is a lot of kids!”

About 129 kids signed up for the first event of Best Buddies. Brumder said was so glad to see that so many of Arrowhead’s students showed up.

Dion said, “I wish we could and set up earlier in the cafeteria. That would have helped with the amount of chaos in the beginning.”

At the beginning of the event, the officers and staff did not know what to do with the amount of kids who had attended.

Officers are students that have leadership roles within the club. Senior Aleah Travers in the President, sophomore Bella Krug-Wagner is the Vice President and juniors Tori Star and Emma Hoffman are all officers of the club.

The staff advisors to Best Buddies are Kim Dion, and other special education teachers.

They thought they were prepared, says Krug-Wagner, but when the students showed up they were confused and did not know what do, leading to many of them just talking and walking around.

The officers then assigned them into groups and directed a group toward each station.

Students, Brumder included, were “nervous but more excited than anything” for the event.

Brumder said that if one thing she would suggest to the officers and staff is to make it a little more organized, but she “understands the chaos because it was the first event with over 100 kids.”

Dion says she “loves” Best Buddies, with the accent on love. She says her favorite thing is everybody, disabilities or not, coming together and learning from each other.

“It truly warms my heart,” she says. “I have learned so much from these kids, and here I thought they would be learning from me.”

Dion says this will be her second year as staff advisor for the club, and she said that the number of kids participating this year has at least doubled last year’s total.

Brumder, unlike Dion, has only been a part of Best Buddies for one year, and she said that she is already enjoying it so much. She loves her buddy and and can’t wait to grow that friendship.

She said, “I’m so excited and can’t wait for more monthly activities they seem so fun.”

The next event is November 13th at Skyzone Trampoline Park. Students must sign up on Google Classroom before November 8th.