It would be hard to face all the challenges of high school alone. Thankfully there are many clubs at WJ, such as Best Buddies, that help students find their own niche among the huge diversity present. Best Buddies is a national nonprofit organization established to create one-to-one friendships with those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The club meets monthly during lunch to plan a wide variety of activities in and outside of school, such as their recent Halloween dance and upcoming bonfire at Butler’s Orchard. Individual Best Buddies members are committed to contacting their buddy every two weeks with a phone call or quick meet up, in addition to hanging out once a month outside of school, such as going to the movies or the mall. There are also Associate Buddies who do not have a specific buddy, but instead contact any buddy from the club once a month.

“It’s a really special group of people and they bring so much happiness and enthusiasm to all of the activities,” said president of the club, senior Hanna Silnicky. “There’s just a really positive atmosphere no matter where we are or what we’re doing.”

Silnicky joined Best Buddies her sophomore year to originally just get involved at school but never expected to be as committed as she is now. As president, she oversees the planning for activities and events and distributes tasks to other officers. According to Silnicky, she is very lucky to have a hardworking and dedicated group to work with.

Best Buddies brings in many members after their first initial interest meeting at the beginning of each school year. However, the large job of managing the copious members can sometimes be challenging. It is especially difficult when someone joins but later is unable to make the commitment. Silnicky says the “buddy” or other member of the matched pair is then let down and a decision has to be made whether to dissolve the match or not.

Apart from recreational gatherings, Best Buddies also dedicates the month of March to “Spread the Word, to End the Word” where the club raises awareness about the inappropriate use of the word “retarded.”

“We do our best to ask people to realize the meaning behind the word and the pain it can cause to those with and without disabilities,” said Silnicky.

As a whole, Silnicky encourages those who are interested to join the positive atmosphere of Best Buddies.

“The club teaches a lot about acceptance and equality,” she said. “I think it provides a really unique opportunity to meet new people you might not usually meet.”