Helping kids form one-to-one friendships happens every time Best Buddies meets. When the club starts, people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are matched up with Best Buddies members.

Kids who join the club can become either peer buddies or associate members. All members are required to attend every meeting, and must notify Mrs. Simons if they are going to be absent.

Christa Simons is the faculty sponsor for the Best Buddies club. Her message to anyone thinking about becoming a peer buddy is that they have to stay in contact with their buddy and form a real friendship with them. Buddies are “relying on their friends… if you don’t show up, you’re disappointing them,” Simons said.

Peer buddies are required to do at least two activities with their buddy outside of school each month and contact them at least once every week. The director of the Best Buddies PHU chapter, Kayla Spencer, described what it’s like to be a peer buddy.

When a member is a peer buddy “it doesn’t become a commitment anymore, you realize that you have a real friendship with them,” said Spencer.

Spencer said “you have a friend in me”, a true testament to the mission of the Best Buddies organization: to spread the message that everyone deserves a buddy.

Spencer also said, “you can really learn something different from another person”, so members can look forward to discovering something about themselves and their buddies when they join the club.

If someone interested in joining doesn’t feel up for the commitment of being a peer buddy, they can become an associate member.

Associate members don’t get matched up with buddies. Instead they go to all club planned events and help to organize events for peer buddies and their buddies. Associate members also help at events, too. The hours dedicated as a peer buddy don’t count towards Bright Futures, but the amount of hours an associate member helps the club does.

Kennerly Rotz is the Vice President of the Best Buddies chapter. She has a neighbor with autism and epilepsy, who inspired her to join the club. She enjoys participating in the friendship walk and “hanging out with the buddies in general; they’re so much fun”, Rotz said.

Other club events include the Halloween party and bowling.

The first meeting of the Best Buddies club was on September 29^th, 2015, but it’s not too late to join. The next meeting will be posted on the school website and will most likely be on the second Tuesday in October. This is the club’s third year here.

In order to join the school’s chapter each person has to fill out a membership application at www.bestbuddies.org, bring $10 to the next meeting to pay dues, and set up an appointment to be interviewed if they want to be a peer buddy.