Best Buddies

In the last few years, I have been working with other schools in the area with a group called Best Buddies. The group was started in an attempt to provide social experiences to students with multiple disabilities. The students in this program participate in a number of outings each year. The outings are one time a month and are done with other schools within our county. The place of the outing differs each month. I am excited to be a part of this group.


The Best Buddies Group works to provide a variety of community and transition experiences for students in the Special Education Program. Our group has raised money for outings by selling trail mix at lunch and though the use of donations. I would like to expand the participation this year to include all students that work in my room. The expectation would be for students to help raise money through school projects and collecting milk caps. The students would be responsible for ordering supplies and “keeping the books.” They would have to budget the group’s money and make preparations for each event.

Students would be expected to be peer leaders when attending Best Buddies outings. My vision for the Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah group would be to have students with better communication skills attend outings and provide good examples and modeling for other students. The peer leaders would rotate the number of outings they attend, as not to miss out on too much school.

Participation in this group is strictly voluntary. Students would need permission to attend each event. Also the student must be in good academic standing to participate.