George C. Marshall Best Buddies

What makes George C. Marshall Special?

This month’s blog presents a peek into the Best Buddies program at George C. Marshall, from
the perspective of two “Best Buddies.” Jeannie and Jackie describe how Best
Buddies has impacted their high school experience, that Best Buddies truly
fulfills its mission to create opportunities for one-to-one friendships,
integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual
and developmental disabilities (IDD).

Jeannie:

I like being at Best Buddies after school. My friends are there and I have a lot of fun at
Best Buddies. I see Jackie and Amy there. I say hi to my friends at Best
Buddies when I see them. I have fun and play games with my friends at Best Buddies.
Jackie and I talk when we’re at Best Buddies. I tell Jackie about my day at
school and what I did in school. I see Jackie in the hallway and at Best
Buddies. I see my friends at Best Buddies. I hang out with my friends. Amy says
hi to me when she sees me.

These are some of the things I did:

I played basketball in the gym and I made a basket. I decorated cookies in the cafeteria
and I spread the frosting and sprinkles. I went to the Valentine’s Day dance
and I danced a lot. I went to the Best Buddies Pot Luck in the cafeteria and I brought
spaghetti with tomato sauce.

Everyone should join Best Buddies because they could see what we do at Best Buddies.
They would do fun activities and play really fun games with us. They would come
the Best Buddies meeting every month. Come join Best Buddies with me.

Jackie:

Best Buddies is a great program that has truly changed my
life. Not only has it taught me leadership from being an officer for two years
and finally president this year but also I have made so many friends,
especially my ‘buddy’ Jeannie. At Best Buddies meetings, my friends and I can
just have fun, no judgment, no stress, just fun doing many different things
including cookie decorating, my personal favorite, and teaming up with
different sports teams from around school for a fun day of sports just to name
a couple. This fun however doesn’t just end at the after school meetings. I
also go to movie nights, game nights and even just go to the mall with all the
friends I made, both with and without special needs.

I believe everyone should join Best Buddies. It has made me a
better person by becoming more aware of how I view people, and allows me to not
take the small things in life for granted. I know this organization also helps all
the people with special needs who are apart of it feel more accepted, a feeling
no one should have to live without. To me, it feels great to know I have been
making a difference. If I am able to easily help make my school a more
accepting environment for my friends with special needs, have so much fun doing
so, and even better myself in the process, why would I or anyone else not want
to join Best Buddies?