Members of SHS Best Buddies, enjoy an extra pre-hour of Winterball
Incoming CP Cory Skipper receives award from Anthony Kennedy Shriver
by JAN BRADY
Best Buddies New Mexico
Sandia High School received National recognition at the Best Buddies National Leadership Conference. They have become the first New Mexico Best Buddies program to rerceive the prestigious award because they truly have cahnged the world for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Today Buddies are recognized as individuals by their school communities, people talk to them in the cafeteria and in the hallways, they are invitede to games and dances.
Congratulations on receiving a great honor Sandia High, Advisors jan Brady and Amy Edwards, Asst. Principal Esther Keeton, Student Leaders Dooley Penrod, Sunny Loera, Emily Lein, santana Lopez and all the students who made SHS so awesome.
Sandia Best Buddies would like to thank all the people who have helped to make their club such a success in becoming the Best Buddy chapter of the month for June.
In their first year they grew beyond expectations, ending the school year with nineteen Buddy Pairs and fifteen Associate Members.
Their primary goal for this first year was to start new traditions for their chapter and school. One of the most special traditions is the weekly lunch for their Buddy pairs and members; with full participation it has become an expected and popular experience around the Sandia campus.
Another goal was for all of their members to be recognized and accepted as a Sandia High School Matador, because everybody deserves a Best Buddy! Without question the Sandia High School community has embraced their members, and their Buddies are living their high school experience!
At the beginning of the school year, most of their Buddies spent their lunch huddled quietly and silently in various classrooms, afraid of the “regular” students. Through on-going efforts by the Sandia Peer Buddies, students and staff, the Buddies are now eating lunch in the cafeteria with their peers and classmates as regular members of the Sandia student body.
The Sandia chapter also worked closely with the Student Senate to identify ways to become more involved with the regular functions that no Best Buddy had ever attended before. The Senior Senators made certain that the Buddies got the opportunity by paying to open the Sandia Winter Ball an hour early so that the members could experience the lights, decorations, and music on their terms.
An hour later the Buddies blended in and were simply dancing Matadors! The Sandia administration is active in working to incorporate Best Buddies into school traditions and ceremonies. It is a tradition that graduating seniors walk the stage in alphabetical order to receive their diplomas.
This year the administration changed that tradition in response to a Best Buddy request. The change allowed for the Buddy Pairs to sit and be called together when receiving their diplomas. It was a touching ceremony to see the excitement and dedication to assist all students in achieving the final goal of high school, the diploma.
Buddies are recognized everywhere around campus not just for the Best Buddy t-shirts they where proudly, but because they are a part of the Sandia student body. Go, Sandia Best Buddies!
The Best Buddies Sandia Chapter has been selected as the Outstanding Chapter of the Year for New Mexico based on the Best Buddies New Mexico-Buddy Bucks System. The Sandia chapter will also be applying for the 2010 Best Buddies International Outstanding Chapter award, presented at the 2010 Best Buddies International Leadership Conference.
Congratulations Sandia for all their accomplishments as a chapter! For more information about Best Buddies New Mexico, contact Amanda Gonzales at amandagonzales@bestbuddies.org
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