BE Buddies
By Kerrigan Schultz on November 19, 2018
Senior Abigal Arend has always had a passion for spending time with students who have special needs. For her senior project, she decided to continue that bond with a program called BE buddies.
“We do a whole bunch of activities that help with fine and gross motor skills like playing with shaving cream, kickball, crafts, and a lot more activities,” Arend said.
BE buddies is a program where students with special needs get to interact with high school students and other kids their age while doing fun activities. Arend sets up activities twice a month with the help of a few high school students who also enjoy working with them. She does BE buddies with both elementary students in Bridgewater and middle school students in Emery.
“I really enjoy working with the kids,” Arend said. “I love to see how happy and excited they get. I would say so far they liked painting the pumpkins and playing with the shaving cream, and of course, the boys liked playing kickball.”
BE buddies started with Jessie VanLeur in the school year 2016-2017 with her Accounting I and II classes. Arend was apart of the program last year and decided to continue it because she saw how much the kids loved it and how much they reacted and looked forward to that day.
“I started BE Buddies because working with students with special needs impacted my life greatly as a paraprofessional, and I wanted my accounting students to have the same if not, a better experience,” VanLeur said. “When Abigal asked to take if over for her senior project I did not hesitate. She made many connections with each student last year and has a passion for working with students with special needs. BE Buddies has exceeded my expectations and has been an amazing experience to watch interactions and friendships build among the students.”
Arend plans to continue BE Buddies throughout the year and is planning an end-of-the-year field trip to the Children’s Museum in Brookings.
“We do a whole bunch of activities that help with fine and gross motor skills like playing with shaving cream, kickball, crafts, and a lot more activities,” Arend said.
BE buddies is a program where students with special needs get to interact with high school students and other kids their age while doing fun activities. Arend sets up activities twice a month with the help of a few high school students who also enjoy working with them. She does BE buddies with both elementary students in Bridgewater and middle school students in Emery.
“I really enjoy working with the kids,” Arend said. “I love to see how happy and excited they get. I would say so far they liked painting the pumpkins and playing with the shaving cream, and of course, the boys liked playing kickball.”
BE buddies started with Jessie VanLeur in the school year 2016-2017 with her Accounting I and II classes. Arend was apart of the program last year and decided to continue it because she saw how much the kids loved it and how much they reacted and looked forward to that day.
“I started BE Buddies because working with students with special needs impacted my life greatly as a paraprofessional, and I wanted my accounting students to have the same if not, a better experience,” VanLeur said. “When Abigal asked to take if over for her senior project I did not hesitate. She made many connections with each student last year and has a passion for working with students with special needs. BE Buddies has exceeded my expectations and has been an amazing experience to watch interactions and friendships build among the students.”
Arend plans to continue BE Buddies throughout the year and is planning an end-of-the-year field trip to the Children’s Museum in Brookings.