Inclusion and more

When I was at Hopi Elementary School, Mrs. Dawn Gutierrez, the now former principal of New Way Academy came to Hopi to see if I'd be the right fit for New Way. Shortly after that my parents transitioned me to New Way.   When I was at New Way, I got to know the students and teachers really well. There I begin to the experiment with public speaking by leading school spirit assemblies! During the assemblies New Way teachers recognized "Students of the Month" and the staff and students alike participated in games. I also learned how to utilize the Cornell Two column notes format for note-taking during English. During the 8th grade graduation ceremony, the 8th grade graduates had to give speeches. I almost did not give a speech but I ultimately overcame my fear of speaking.  After that I begun my freshman year at Chaparral High School.  What I learned at New Way helped me succeed at Chaparral. While I was at Chaparral High, I was often the student who would "do good...

It's almost September which means BACK TO BEST BUDDIES for many schools. As a returning participant in Best Buddies in Arizona, I thought I'd share with you why I am excited for this year of Best Buddies.  BBAZ LC 2015 reunion I am mainly excited for the BBAZ LC 2015 reunion. I am trying hard to accomplish a goal I've set for the event which is to have over half of BBAZ's 50 student leaders, Ambassadors and advisors in attendance to allow them to think back to the fun times that  occurred during 26th Annual Best Buddies Leadership Conference. Program Manager Kara Gregory and I are hard at work planning the reunion. We'll be kicking the reunion off with an Welcome message before we show a video I have been making. This event will help my neighbors learn about Best Buddies as we've never hosted a Best Buddies event in our new house in Casa Blanca.   Continuing to watch the YLC alumni mentorship program I launched flourish The group of mentorship...

Austin Rector has quickly became my best friend for life and my brother from another mother. Check out this blog post to learn about me and Austin's friendship: Austin was Chapter President of Best Buddies at Hamilton High School, which won Overall Outstanding High School Chapter from Best Buddies International during the 23rd Annual Best Buddies Leadership Conference. During his time as Chapter President, Austin and his buddy Drew won the Audi Spirit of Friendship Award during the Best Buddies AZ Spirit of Friendship Award.  To see them be recognized for forming a strong friendship made me so happy. I met Austin during a Best Buddies Arizona and we hit it off. I friend requested him on Facebook and he added me. We also exchanged cell phone numbers so we can/could text. Soon after that event, Austin and I planned our first activity with his parents Niki and Ernie. We hung out at the movies and went to lunch. Austin also attended my 18th birthday part...

For the past two years, I have watched the Time to Shine art and talent show, which happens to be held at the Phoenix Center for the Arts. I had fun watching it and left last year knowing that I wanted to participate in the Talent Show portion of the event one year. Although my former peer buddy Elaine and I actually contemplated having my dad's sister Leslie Vance, who used to teach Art at a private school in Newport Beach, CA, help me come up with an idea for an art piece.  I ultimately decided to enter the talent show portion of Time to Shine this year.  Trevor Paxton and Samantha Mason  Throughout the summer months, the Buddies who decided to participate in the Art and Talent tracks had workshops. I attended the workshops to practice my song I was performing "For Good" from Wicked the Musical . Throughout those workshops, I got to know all of the Buddies who participated in the talent track and Trevor Paxton, the Program Manager fro...

As a person with a disability, I can honestly go on and on about why it is important to allow people with disabilities to fill leadership positions other than the role of Buddy Director which is automatically assigned to them by Best Buddies.  When I was a sophomore at Chaparral High School, I was the assistant public relations director of our Best Buddies chapter. I had the opportunity to approve membership applications and upload photos to our chapter portal on Best Buddies Online and write our Outstanding Chapter application. Being a leader helped me "come out of my shell" by allowing me to work with our Chapter Leadership team which included our Program Manager, advisors and officers.  I ultimately helped our chapter improve its reputation within Best Buddies AZ and Best Buddies International.   When you allow students with disabilities to become leaders within your chapter and fill other positions outside of Buddy Director, you will ...

The Best Buddies program at Arizona State University is  truly an outstanding chapter. The chapter at ASU has won many awards at a national and state level. We've won Overall Outstanding Chapter in 2013. Chapter President Nicole Paxton became involved in ASU's Best Buddies chapter since her brother Trevor is a Program Manager for Best Buddies Arizona.  ASU has some talented buddies. Scott May has performed songs by the Eagles for BBAZ's Time to Shine talent show and Justin Toler has performed during the Time to Shine talent show, the BBAZ Gala and Leadership Conference. Buddy Ambassador Ashlee Coffman has received the Spirit of Courage award during the annual Spirit of Friendship Gala!  ASU Buddy Pair Nicole and Ashlee during LC 2015 Last year the chapter overcame some challenges in leadership. Nicole was named CP halfway through the year and was paired with her buddy Ashlee! Nicole and Ashlee went to BBAZ events and ASU Chapter ...

As someone with a disability who been paired with many peer buddies throughout the past few years, I can honestly go on and on about what makes friendships thrive!  I thought I'd share a few tips for potential peer buddies who want to be paired up with a buddy this year through Best Buddies.  Former Chaparral HS Buddy Pair Lindsey Eaton and Meaghan Tracey during BBAZ's Phoenix Dizzy 250 bike ride 1. Treat your buddy like a friend The Buddies are people. They just want to be included in everyday activities like school prom dances or if you're in college school sporting events.  Buddies just want friends  When you're a peer buddy, it's good to remember you are NOT doing it for resume work, rather you are doing it to form a strong friendship with your buddy. To ultimate goal of Best Buddies is for buddy pairs to form strong friendships that benefit both the peer bud dy and buddy.  Check out this strong friendship out of New York:   Best Buddies New ...

Even though the school year has not started, I'd like to bring your attention to Spread the Word to End the Word campaign!  There is a campaign called "Spread the Word to End the Word" which has been around for a few years. The campaign aims to educate people about the hurtful affects of the r-word, which is retard and retarded. Best Buddies partners with Special Olympics to host this campaign every March. As an individual who is diagnosed with autism, when I hear the r-word I want to cringe and say something. The r-word is very offensive when used. Even when you're using the word jokingly you're offending people like me.  It's not a word that is used to be jokingly.  BBAZ's 2012 High School Buddy Pair of the Year Elaine Helton and Lindsey Eaton from Chaparral High School  I have gone through a lot of adversities to get where I am today. I was diagnosed with autism at a young age and with that came many challe...

There is a still plenty of stigma that surrounds hiring individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Most employers hesitate to hire people with IDD as a result of not knowing enough about disabilities and having the fear of the unknown strike them!  Best Buddies International has launched the I'm In to Hire initiative to encourage companies to hire individuals with disabilities. I'm in to Hire was launched to show companies the benefit of hiring people with disabilities.  There are job placement programs like Project SEARCH that help Best Buddies participants go from Project SEARCH intern to EMPLOYEE within workplaces across the US. I recently took a job at Christ Lutheran School in Phoenix and went from Project SEARCH intern to employee! According to my instructors for Project SEARCH, I had better success than many other interns. Most of the interns are not hired before graduation which happens in September in Arizona!  A few months ago when ...