Best Buddies Week 2017 👭👬

Located inside of school, Saint Katherine Day School (Best Buddies) is an important part of Archbishop Carroll. The Best Buddies program is the bond that connects and unites two typically separated communities. Throughout the year, there is a Best Buddies event each month consisting of a lunch or celebration. The highlight of the program is the annual Best Buddies Week which aims to popularize the program and spread important moral messages to the entire school, promoting acceptance and understanding.

During the second week of March 2017, we successfully celebrated our Best Buddies Week with the theme “Don't Diss Abilities”. Last year, I merely gave a speech as an associate. However this year, as a peer buddy and an officer, I participated in the planning and organizing processes as well. I learned a good deal from my participation in this event and would like to share a few of my experiences.

First and foremost, the Best Buddies Week was FUN. During that week, there were a few noteworthy accomplishments. We sold a relatively large number of Best Buddies t-shirts to both the faculty and the student body, which helped gather funds for future program events. For those who did not purchase a t-shirt, we had a dress down day to capture their attention and support. To promote the theme “Don’t Diss Abilities”, we created a poster and collected hundreds of signatures, showing how participatory Carroll can really be. If you walk through the hallway now, you can still see the long red Best Buddies poster hanging outside of the library.

Students of both of SKDS and Carroll helped make Best Buddies special cupcakes and brownies so that Carroll students could enjoy the sweet desserts at lunch that week. Then, it came to the most essential element of the whole week - maybe even the whole year - the Best Buddies Assembly. All those who took part in it had a great time on stage as and the students who sat in the audience made sure to pay close attention. On Friday, all peer buddies took their buddy to a class and let them experience a piece of our daily routine at Carroll. In a nutshell, this week was very successful for the organizers and very enjoyable for all those who participated.

Furthermore, as one of the organizers, I would like to share my experience in the planning portion. The preparation started an entire month before the infamous week, as we had a variety of different tasks to accomplish beforehand. Regarding the t-shirts - we had to design the pattern, contact the manufacturers, and account for the sizes of those who preordered them. For the poster - we collected a group of Carroll’s artists who did a terrific job with the design. Then we gave out markers at lunch periods and let the students sign it. As for the desserts, we coordinated the schedule and delegated students to sell them at lunch.

We spent the longest amount of time on the most significant portion - the schoolwide assembly. In my opinion, the assembly this year was a great improvement from last year, having more activities and elements such as the ‘JuJu on the Beat dance,’ the Kahoot game that hundreds of students joined, the final dance-off, the video which showcased the unique talents of St. Katherine’s students, and more. To ensure that the assembly would run smoothly, we even prepared a backup plan, including a series of inspiring videos about a strong and independent business owner who pursued his career path even with Down Syndrome. The most important thing I learned from my participation was from the president of the Best Buddies program, Tyler. He said: “Just go with the flow. What’s more important than having fun?” After all of our planning, we just went with the flow and let the students themselves have fun. Therefore, the assembly was a huge success.

To conclude: a huge THANK YOU to all of the faculty and students who took participated. Because of you, the Best Buddies Week was a huge success. Please look forward to more Best Buddies events in the near future!!