School Committee Approves Best Buddies At Mansfield High School

MANSFIELD, MA – After five years on a waiting list, Best Buddies is coming to Mansfield High School.

The school committee voted Tuesday night to allow the program to be an official student activity at the school. The highly regarded program will effectively replace Common Connections, a similar activity that was started when the high school was placed on the Best Buddies waiting list

"The best thing I can say about best buddies is we try to pair the kids up and we don’t want to isolate them. Best buddies pairs the kids up and provides the resources," Mansfield High School teacher Christine Riley said.

Best Buddies was founded by 1989 by Anthony Kennedy Shriver has has over 1,500 chapters on school campuses. The program's goal is to pair up a mentor with a buddy to provide friendship in and out of school.

Common Connections had about 75-100 kids as members, with that number expected to be about the same for Best Buddies. Any member who is not paired up with a buddy can remain with the group as an associate member.

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