“Our students love sports. They’ve had fun doing it, whether it be volleyball, soccer, basketball, or football,” said Naperville North multi-needs teacher Pheobe Conner.
For the first time this school year, the Naperville North athletic program is teaming up with the Best Buddies program. The goal of Best Buddies is to create one-to-one friendships, leadership development and inclusive living for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This story is sponsored by Fair Oaks Ford and Fair Oaks Lincoln.
Best Buddies students get a taste of the varsity athlete life
This collaboration gives Best Buddies students who participate in the program the chance to show off their athletic skills in front of peers, athletes, and supporters. The idea came from new Naperville North athletic director Jon Periero, who wants to give every kid an equal opportunity while helping build that connection.
“Sometimes our student-athletes don’t necessarily cross paths with our Best Buddies as students. Now that they know each other and when they do, pass each other in their hallways, you often see high fives, hello’s and excitement, and that’s what you want. You want a building where there is that connection, that opportunity for that smile in the hallway or that excitement when a game is coming up,” said Naperville North Athletic Director Jon Periero.
“At the practices, they kind of get, there’s a lot of modeling by the student-athletes, and then our students learn some new skills, or go over some skills that they may, you know, may have known,” said Conner.
Connection through a variety of sports
The kids have practiced, with girls volleyball, football, boys and girls basketball, and boys and girls soccer this school year.
“I like kicking the ball and kicking goals and seeing it go in” said Naperville North Multi Needs Student Grace Manfre.
The students bring joy to those practices by showcasing their athletic ability, having a good time, or making new Best Buddies.
“Each practice has just a ton of smiles, laughter, and excitement from everybody within. Really, what we’re looking to create is a new set of teammates for each of our programs. So, for instance, for the girls soccer team, they now have a new set of teammates from the Best Buddies program who have the opportunity to cheer on and support them,” said Periero.
“I’ve known these kids for a while, and everyone had a smile on their faces for both our soccer team and the students. So I say it was a success we had so many activities set up, and everyone had a chance to do something, and we allowed them to always be working towards something. I think that’s super special to teach them that, and especially given the opportunity to play with us and be role models to them,” said Naperville North girls soccer player Abby Penn.
Best Buddies with a bright future
Administrators are hopeful for more practices with other North teams in future school years. Thanks to the positive feedback from the community, the Husky Athletic Department and Best Buddies are excited to keep this Best tradition, an annual one.
“It’s definitely a tradition that I’m hoping we can continue, and I think we will. We’ve gotten positive feedback from parents, our students, their peers, and the athletic program. So, we want to continue because it brings value to all the students’ lives, whether they have a disability or not,” said Conner.
“I’m excited for them to be able to continue building relationships with the peers that they’ve met through these teams, as well as some of like the juniors that like they met through the teams that they otherwise wouldn’t know or the underclassmen, anybody that’s like not like a senior right now, that they’ll be able to continue playing with them next year,” said Naperville North Best Buddies board member Sophia Kessler.
