TOWAMENCIN – A club that allows students to interact with special needs students in many exciting ways, Best Buddies ‘N Us is the club for anyone willing to offer a helping hand and make meaningful connections with students they may not have interacted with before.

Advised by North Penn Special Education teacher Kathleen Kerper and coordinated by co-presidents Sophia Bergeron and Halle Krosskove, Best Buddies meets every second and fourth Thursday of the month, usually in the cookie corner cafeteria. While they are working on establishing a strong base for the Best Buddies club after a half-year hiatus, Kerper and other students are looking forward to implementing new events and fundraisers, like a t-shirt design contest and sale. Activities at meetings for the rest of the year include Just Dance, an Easter egg hunt, cookie decorating, a farewell pizza party, and the end of the year talent show.

Bergeron favors the talent show above most of the activities: “All the buddies get to do whatever they want to do – a lot of them tell jokes, rap, dance, and we all watch, clap, and laugh. They show off what they can do.”

Students are buddied up with a disabled student to help them understand each other better through these events and other activities. Kerper praises the connections these students make throughout the year, highlighting the walls that are broken down through this interaction.

“I love the way that the Best Buddies club lets the kids who don’t have any special disabilities interact with people who do have disabilities, and they get to see each other as a person. I think it relieves the fear a lot of times.”

By joining Best Buddies, students get the chance to meet and bond with other students from around the school, helping them move past disabilities to make strong connections.