As the academic year kicks off, so do the friendships of WJ. Among the various clubs resuming, there is one that takes friendship beyond the classroom. Best Buddies is a club aspiring to cultivate bonds and meaningful connections between students both with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). These bonds have begun to expand within households, involving multiple sets of siblings partaking in the school’s club.
“My [older] sister started Best Buddies in seventh grade,” senior club president Sadie Morgenstern said. “I knew I wanted to start doing it as soon as I got into middle school, since she really liked it.”
Becoming involved with the club from such a young age is what made Sadie a strong candidate for club president this year. As the last sibling in the Morgenstern family, Sadie is eager to start her journey as the head of the club. Beyond familial ties, there are many different ways students hear about the club.
“I actually heard about [Best Buddies] from a friend who was an officer,” junior Macie Redmond said. “I was taking guitar lessons from him at the time and when I asked him what clubs I should join, he said Best Buddies.”
As the club prepares for a friendship-filled year, the new officers are tasked with recruiting new members. This year, enlisting new members is especially important due to the large number of seniors in the club who graduated last year, leaving few returning members. The majority of siblings currently involved in the club are younger siblings, bringing the generational aspect of the club to a halt. As the legacy of family ties in the club starts to deteriorate, the officers need to combat their loss of guaranteed members.
“Social media is a great way to spread the word about Best Buddies, we use it to inform people about all of the events and club meetings that we have,” Morgenstern said.
Word of mouth does work to enlist interested students, but sometimes it isn’t enough. The club announces important events, club meetings and photos through Instagram. Even with the Instagram stories and posts, the club is a tighter knit circle than it was last year.
“This is only the second year I’m the sponsor for the club but I’d say the club is around ⅔ the amount of people as last year,” club sponsor and math teacher Laura Brager said.
On Thursday, Oct. 24, the club had their first official meeting where students were matched up with their buddies and the new and returning club members got to know each other. As the club continues to meet throughout the year, members are welcome to join at any time.