Best Buddies Goes Trick or Treating

Best Buddies Goes Trick or Treating

By Jordan Gresham, Tribune reporter and Best Buddy

Oxford, OH  — On Thurs., Oct. 28, Talawanda High School’s chapter of Best Buddies held their annual school-wide trick or treating. In this event, members of Best Buddies group together and walk around the school and go from classroom to classroom to get their favorite candies, with some teachers even giving away toys or “tricks.” This is usually held the week of Halloween right after school as the club’s monthly meeting. This is held to bring the students together and have some fun to get in the Halloween spirit, and has achieved that goal for years. 

Best Buddies is an all-inclusive international club that provides one on one friendships for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). These opportunities change lives for the better for high school students of all backgrounds by providing new friendships and connections all the time. Talawanda’s chapter meets once a month, and are always looking for and accepting new members! 

This Halloween the turnout was full of new and existing members, including Mary Perkins and Jacob Farmer. Jacob joined last year, and when asked “what does Best Buddies mean to you?” he said “I joined Best Buddies Sophomore year, and it was a way to interact with and get to know other people during covid. It is a great way to get to know others from different backgrounds and have more inclusion among everyone.” When I asked Mary why people should join Best Buddies, she said “I would let everyone know the fun and exciting things we do in the group,” and her response to the same question asked to Jacob, her response was “to me, Best Buddies means diversity and acceptance.” Their favorite candies are Snickers for Mary and Almond Joys for Jacob.

If you’re interested in joining the group, the next meeting is Thursday, Nov. 18. If you can’t make it or want to learn more, the head of Talawanda’s chapter is Ms. Sammons.  

BestBuddies

Best Buddies Mary Perkins (left) and Jordan Gresham (right)