PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Best Buddies Club Resource Fair at Pittsfield High School on Tuesday demonstrated the importance of connection.

 

The Best Buddies Club is part of the national nonprofit Best Buddies International. 

 

According to its website, the organization aims to end the social, physical, and economic isolation of the 200 million individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

 

It's important to embrace differences and accept people for who they are without judgment. People don't have to be segregated because of their differences, PHS senior and club President Analeese Matos said. 

 

The school's Best Buddies Club is composed of about 30 general education students and about 20 students with disabilities. 

 

They meet every other week to participate in various activities, such as arts and crafts, sports, and more, to build an inclusive environment. 

 

High school juniors and seniors have the opportunity to attend a career fair, where they can explore different jobs and businesses and better understand what they want to do after graduation. 

 

But because some special education students can be overwhelmed by the fair's environment, they are often unable to attend. 

 

Matos said when these students graduate, they often are unsure what to do and where to go next. 

 

Some lack the resources or families to give them a head start and guide them where to go. 

 

"I think some of the resources here are able to give them that information so they know that after high school, they are able to go where they need to go that would benefit them," she said. 

 

"... For students with disabilities, I think [the fair] gives them more opportunities because I know a lot of them, especially in the workforce, aren't able to show what they can give to their full potential. And they just aren't really given the opportunity to focus on the resources and focus on their skills that they have."

 

The resource fair provides them the same opportunity to see what resources are available to them when they leave the transitional program. 

 

ServiceNet representatives were excited to be given the chance to table at the resource fair because they are excited to spread the word about its new therapeutic vocational farm program, Vice President of Vocational Programs Shawn Robinson, said. 

 

"Often folks don't know the variety of opportunities out there for them. From what I'm hearing today, there's everything from college opportunities to more social after school getting together type programs, or for people who just want to go into work or work in the trades like Prospect Meadow Farm," Robinson said. 

 

"So it's one place where you can learn about lots of things, and there's a lot of value in that."

 

It is good practice to know what resources are in your community, especially after graduating high school, which has everything the students need under the same building and is heavily supported, UCP of Western Mass Assistant Director of Community Support Kimberly Sorensen said. 

 

"You have everything you need here at school, and then after that, you're kind of thrown out into the world. So, to have the resources in our community, to have that support for individuals with disabilities as well as general education to know that these supports are here is super important," Sorensen said. 

 

It's not only nice for the students with disabilities because it allows them to see the resources available to them, but it is also good for general education students who may be interested in joining this career, 

 

"I think it's good for general education [students] to see what different agencies and careers are out there. If this is maybe the path they want to go down," Kaylee Persico, UCP of Western Mass Assistant Director of Independent Services, said. 

 

"It's a good resource for them to gauge what's out there and that they can go into this field, or even if they're going off to college, maybe some places to do internships with, so it's really nice."

 

Matos worked with some of the school's special education teachers to determine what organizations and resources would best support their students. 

 

Organizations, including United Cerebral Palsy of Western Mass., Berkshire County Arc, MassHire, the Berkshire Athenaeum, Servicenet, and more, filled the school's library to demonstrate the resources available after graduation. 

 

The Best Buddies Club allows students to build lifelong friendships and connect with students they otherwise would not be able to interact with because they are segregated within the classroom, Matos said.

 

"I think, for the students in general education, it just gives them an understanding of how to work with different types of people in the sense that no one's mind is the same and people have different areas that they need help with and stuff like that," she said.

 

"So I think it just gives them a sense of how to work with different people, and I guess it goes for everyone, essentially."

 

The former club leader and culinary teacher Todd Eddy echoed this, adding that the club highlights the people's differences and shows how these differences make us similar. 

 

It's one thing to have a special education student in your program and know them in passing. However, the Best Buddies Club brings students together so they can understand their unique personalities, styles, and disabilities. 

 

The program fosters a sense of community and promotes building connections and friendships.

 

The high school’s Best Buddies Club was established more than 12 years ago, Eddy said. It promotes equity, compassion, human kindness, companionship, and relationships. 

 

The club fell to the wayside when the pandemic hit and when Eddy's time changed to split between Taconic and PHS. That was until Matos reignited the program.

 

After taking a facilitating community change course last year, Matos started working with students with intellectual disabilities based on inclusivity within the workforce. 

 

She started on an internship-based project but changed it to working specifically with students with intellectual disabilities in PHS. 

 

As part of her Portrait of a Graduate project, Matos brought the Best Buddies Club back.

 

"So this year, I worked on starting a program called Best Buddies program where it gets special education students and then students in general education together and paired up so they can get to know each other and make lifelong connections and friendships," she said. 

 

The Portrait of a Graduate is a program the district is trying to implement to prepare students for their next journey after high school.

 

It is based on six competencies needed after graduation: responsible person, prepared individual, global citizen, critical thinker, lifelong learner, and communicator. 

 

It is based on six competencies needed after graduation: responsible person, prepared individual, global citizen, critical thinker, lifelong learner, and communicator.