Best Buddies is an international nonprofit organization that is "dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)." I absolutely love their mission because they are for self-empowerment, self-value, and inclusion. The world would be a different place without organizations like these making a better future for marginalized groups one day at a time. There's still a lot of work to be done though. Us as teachers have a role in this.
I was greatly involved in my high school Best Buddies in Illinois and I want it to be bigger in the Western states as well. We had a national conference that I attended twice in Indiana that made me aware of the lack of meaningful relationships with people with cognitive disabilities at my school and all over. It's funny looking back because I was the president of the club and I had a horrible elevator speech for the mission of Best Buddies. I didn't quite understand the true intent of the organization until I went to college and was immersed in the reality of lots of marginalized groups. We learn and grow I guess. The reason why I bring up Special Olympics as another organization is because I saw how important it was to my hometown community. We had a send-off for our Special Olympics basketball team going to State Championships and we had a banner that everyone could sign wishing the players good luck. These sports teams were the link to the rest of the school in such a natural way. Many of us are fans of sports, bringing us together in commonality. We are a lot more alike than different, but we still honor everyone's uniqueness in the most sincere way.
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Greetings!I'm Kelly! I like to find beauty in what might seem mundane to us over time and bring to life what we experience each day. Check out the About Me tab for an additional look at who I am. Archives
July 2019
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