Under the soft glow of fluorescent lights, two Tuesdays a month, students gather in room 120 to build one-to-one friendships between people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities through the Best Buddies Club. They color, play board games and talk.
“The goal is to make a casual environment where you can form bonds. For example, at the end of October, we’re going to the zoo together,” senior Graham Keller said.
Members meet and bond with others they may only have met with the club—Best Buddies enhances students’ experience, preparing them for life beyond high school.
“I enjoy seeing the buddies in the hall and building those relationships with people I wouldn’t have otherwise. We color all the time and have snacks with members,” junior Alyssa Blanke said.
The club is incorporating more one-on-one connections through buddy pairs this year.
“In addition to hanging out with and talking to the other buddies, we focus on building a relationship with the buddy they’re assigned to,” senior Blake Feinstein said. “I’m buddies with Quinn DePlanty, so I’ve been playing lots of games with Quinn during meetings, including Uno, cornhole, and Connect 4. Quinn and I exchanged numbers, and we are beginning to communicate about setting something up outside of school for us to do.” Beyond school time activities, each month, members attend outside-of-school events like the white-out football game; from the stands, the students watch the football and the Greyhound mascot this October. In 2021, Best Buddies celebrated Halloween by mummifying each other.
“During a Halloween meeting, we mummified each other with toilet paper. Owen, Hayden, Alex Cohen, Janak, and myself worked together to wrap Quinn Deplanty. Even though we didn’t win, it was a really fun experience with a lot of laughter and teamwork,” Feinstein said.
Best Buddies has also celebrated the end of the school year.
“Last year, we all went to Shaw Park and celebrated the end of the school year with cupcake spike balls,” Feinstein said.
Beyond the CHS chapter, Best Buddies is an international organization with chapters in middle and high schools worldwide. The organization works to connect adults with and without intellectual or developmental disabilities. The Clayton chapter has attended the state friendship walk with other chapters in years past.
“My sister and a few other members, some of the buddies, and I all got together and went to Kirkwood Park with other chapters from other schools in the St. Louis area. We all walked together, and there was food, face painting and other activities,” Blanke said.
Diversity, equity and inclusion are foundational to Best Buddies International’s core values.
“We’re all very similar; some people have trouble expressing themselves like you and me. Even if it’s just taking the initiative to start conversations, a little goes a long way,” Baker said.
