LHS Students Team Up With 'Best' Buddies
by PATRICIA A. RUSSELL
Valley Breeze Staff Writer
LINCOLN - Growing up, 16-year-old Sarah Brais had a pretty good idea about the challenges faced by people with physical and mental disabilities. Her mom has worked as a teacher's assistant in special education classes, and in her freshman year at Lincoln High School, Sarah signed up for the school's Best Buddies program.
Now in its 7th year at the school, Best Buddies is an international, nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with disabilities by providing opportunities for one-on-one friendships.
Founded in 1989 by Anthony Kennedy Shriver, Best Buddies has grown from one chapter to more than 1,300 middle school, high school and college campuses across the country.
At Lincoln High, it is an after-school club that promotes friendship between students with disabilities - buddies - and students without disabilities - peer buddies.
Participants in the club meet monthly, though the peer buddies make a commitment to talk to their buddies weekly.
"It's up to them how they want to stay in touch," said Sue Labossier, a teacher's assistant at the high school and Best Buddies adviser. The chapter, she says, gives students a unique opportunity to forge new friendships.
Many peer buddies get together after school and on weekends with their buddies. Often, they share school lunch together in their classrooms or in the school cafeteria.
On a Monday morning in mid-November, Brais had lunch with 17-year-old Lucien Lussier in his classroom. Then he played a tabletop basketball game as they chatted about things they like to do together.
"We go bowling," said Brais.
"Yup," agreed Lussier. "We go duckpin bowling."
Sometimes they cook at his home.
"We made chocolate-covered pretzels," Brais reminds Lussier.
Asked if he liked the sweet snack, Lussier said, "Nah."
"You didn't like them? I did not know," said Brais.
In another classroom, Mary Milner joins Zach Smith, 19, and helps feed him a mixture of mashed potatoes and butternut squash. Although Smith, who has epilepsy, doesn't talk, Milner has a running conversation with him. She's learned over time what his likes and dislikes are.
"He loves music, rock music," she said. "None of that classical stuff," she said. "Loud music all the way, right Zach?"
Milner, a senior and president of Best Buddies at the high school, first heard about the program in her freshman year.
Typically, there are about 13 matches at Lincoln High School. Students are interviewed and must make a commitment to meet with their buddies.
Those who do not get matched with a disabled student can serve as an associate member of the club.
Associate members (Milner was an associate member before she and Smith were matched up) help out with meetings and at fund-raising events. Proceeds from these events pay for the club to be a member of the International Best Buddies program and to send one club member to the annual summer Best Buddies conference.
For the last four years, Elyssa Fernandes has been a member of Best Buddies. When she learned of the program at the high school when she was a freshman, she wanted to be a peer buddy because it sounded like fun.
She does a lot of activities with Dereka Crosby, who is involved with Special Olympics. "We've gotten so close," said Fernandes. When she graduates in June, she plans to stay in contact with Crosby.
Evan Miller, 18, also participates in Special Olympics and is co-captain of the Lincoln Lions varsity team. "I like to swim and I like to win," he said.
He and Tom Carroll have participated in the Best Buddies program for four years. They hang out when they can. Carroll makes it a point to join Miller in the school cafeteria for lunch. If he sees Miller in the school hallways, he always waves to him.
Brais, who met a lot of students with disabilities over the years because of her mother's job and of her own involvement in some of the club's fund-raisers, said she has a lot of respect for people living with disabilities.
It used to be that some of her friends didn't know how to act around people with disabilities. Then they started coming with her to Best Buddy meetings and fund-raising events to help out, she said. Her friends realized that the buddies are "a lot like us," she said.
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