Best Buddies Amazing Race

So our Best Buddies club has just finished up hosting their second event on campus.

I posted a photo stream of our first event here 🙂

I’ve shared about what Best Buddies was about here 🙂

But for those of you just tuning in it’s like this:

Best Buddies fosters inclusion and friendship by pairing typical kids with kids with IDD. 

What’s the Best Buddies mission?

To establish a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

We do this through 8 different programs.

• Middle School 
• High School
• College
• Promoters
• Citizens
• e-buddies
• Ambassadors
• Jobs

In DLSZ we start our buddies as young as Grade 7 and continue all the way through Fourth Year. I am really pleased with the way our Best Buddies Club in DLSZ has developed. Students who want to be paired up will make the commitment to be with their buddy for a whole school year. Together with Ms. Mau and Ms. Juay, we pair students up according to their interests. 

The support from DLSZ has been incredible and often times, when I think about it…I get a little emotional. I can see that through the friendships the kids are forming now, with the support from the faculty, staff, and even Brother Bernie we are making the world a better place one friendship at a time.

Just check out these beautiful moments made possible by the magic of Best Buddies.

 

Buddies have to fish 5 magnetic fish out of the pool with their fishing poles and then put the Best Buddies Mission Statement in the correct order. 

Station 5 challenges the kids to use a plastic spoon and fill up their cup with marbles. 

Station 6 has the buddies revisit the questions that they answered earlier about each other by quizzing them on what they learned about their new friends. 

 

Thank you to Planet Sports for sponsoring our FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD place prizes. Thank you to Gatorade for providing our drinks and refreshments during our challenges. Thank you to Ms. Chie of Zaide for always making sure our buddies are fed well after our activities.

Thank you Jack and Jill for providing the snacks for all the buddies to take home in their loot bags.

Thank you Mike from Lightworkz Photography for documenting our entire activity, and Millie from Not Your Ordinary Mum for all your help.

But more than that…Thank you to the entire guidance department for supporting our activities, putting them together creatively, and genuinely caring about the kids who we are bringing together for the awareness and inclusion of people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.