On A Positive Note: Best Buddies Prom helps build friendships
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A group of volunteer students is making sure all of their classmates get to experience the joy and inclusion of going to prom.
The annual Best Buddies Prom was organized by Chartiers Valley High School this year. Students from 14 different schools in the area participated.
Best Buddies is a non-profit organization that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships among student volunteers and their classmates with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Those students are in the schools' Life Skills programs. The prom was held at Salvatore's in Baldwin. Organizers said it's important for all students to feel like they are part of the community.
"This is one of those events that fosters that because there are no disabilities," said Buffie Faes, a teacher at Chartiers Valley. "Nobody is different than anybody else. This is all of our kids having a great time together."
Student volunteer Joey Zajcek said, "It's important because everybody wants to be treated the same. Everyone wants to have fun. Everyone deserves respect and these are my best friends."
This is the 13th year for the Best Buddies Prom.