Bring Babylon Buddies to West Babylon

We want to introduce an existing program, called "Babylon Buddies," into our school. Babylon Buddies is a club started by the Babylon Junior/Senior High School that provides General Education mentors for Special Education students. The club has spread to East Islip, West Islip, and Lindenhurst and succeeds in breaking the cliques of high schools and creating beautiful friendships. As accepting as WB is, the Special Ed Students still don't have the same experiences as other children. Most of them don't feel comfortable going to events such as Homecoming, Prom, Variety Show, School Musical, Live Musical Performances, Sporting Events or even After School Clubs. Of course, they are welcome to attend everything the school has to offer, but, the loud sounds and large crowds scare them. If that doesn't deter them, the thought of sitting alone will. It's time that we have a space for Special Education Students to enjoy themselves with General Education Students. It's time we have a club like Babylon Buddies. Recently, Nicolette and Sarah Murray attended one of Babylon Buddies' events, the "Buddies Got Talent" show. We were blown away. We watched as the kids forgot about all of their anxieties and sang, danced, told jokes, stated facts, did impressions, did martial arts, and played basketball. No students cried, they smiled. No students paced, they danced. No students shouted, they sang. We have never seen anyone so free. We watched people from all different cliques forget about their differences and come together as one happy family. We think that an environment like that should be provided for everyone and we refuse to watch as our friends in the special education programs stay only amongst themselves. We refuse to let cliques rule our high school. We want to watch the President of the Choir, the Captain of the Football Team, the Homecoming Queen, the President of the GSA, the President of the Chess Club, and the Special Education Students hold hands and laugh. We know it's possible to tear down the barrier that keeps Special Ed and General Ed kids apart. The mentors (General Ed Students) will meet weekly to discuss plans and all of the buddies will meet monthly for some fun and games. We will have to meet up with the other schools for planning the big events of the year, like the talent show and the spring formal. The club would be a place for Special Education Students to become friends with General Education Students, since the only other interactions between the two groups is passing in the hallway. They need to experience relationships with people other than their family and their group of Special Ed Students at school. Not only will the students make friends within our high school, but they will make friends with students from the other Buddies in Babylon, West Islip, East Islip, and Lindenhurst. This program wouldn't only benefit Special Ed Students. General Ed Students would be able to interact with a group of people that they rarely get to see. It would give them an opportunity to experience the world through a different perspective and finally understand how other people think. As the invisible wall between the two groups breaks, some General Ed Students might find that their passion is working with people who have disabilities. This club is absolutely necessary for WBHS because it will give Special Education Students a safe place to be themselves and enjoy life as teenagers, as well as open the door for General Education Students to professions they might not have imagined before. Students learn from one another, so by combining two different kinds of learning abilities, we can all learn how to interact.