The Best Buddies club in Mason city high school is an organization making a positive impact and difference by contributing to the needs of others by building more connections and relationships.
The Best Buddies Club activities consist of having an event each month for the group to get together. This includes playing games with each other, such as bingo, or even going to the cinema to watch a movie. The bigger events that they hold include Best Buddies Prom and Halloween parties that they throw every year. The Board of the club usually gets together two to three times a month to discuss plans on the next events. All of these events are an opportunity to get everyone together to have an awesome time, while at the same time building new relationships among buddies and peers.
When interviewing Natalie Lindsay, the President of the club who has been involved for four years, Officer Ben Siglin who’s been involved for all four, and Officer Lauren Dettmer for three years, they had all wanted to project a message to the student body. The two girls stated that because of the buddies that they work with,”It makes the world happier and such a better place to live in”. They had also mentioned that some may feel intimated by joining the club, but they say that, “Once you try it, you’ll fall in love with it”, while also adding that the buddies are ”super talkative and funny”. Ben had mentioned also that Best Buddies is open to anyone, and will surely always put a smile on your face when you are surrounded with great people.
Both Natalie and Lauren had also discussed their favorite memories from being part of such an awesome club. Natalie’s favorite memories consisted of the Best Buddies Prom and assemblies they put on every year, along with the different ideas they come up with within the organization. Lauren’s memorable moments were being involved in dances. Another favorite memory of Lauren’s was when the best buddies won tons of medals for state cheerleading one year. She has also had a lot of one on one interactions with the different buddies, and her experiences helped her, “Build more relationships and added new perspectives to her life”. Lauren had also mentioned that she loved that the assemblies brought ,”awareness not only to the high school, but to the community as well”.
Lauren, Natalie, and Ben had talked about the life lessons that they had learned over the years after being involved. Lauren had said she had learned that, “Everyone has a story, and you can’t be so quick to judge in life, because everyone is unique and special in their own individual way”. Lauren had learned from one of her buddies to, “Appreciate the little things in life more”, such as the blue sky, which her buddy loved more than anything and still reminds her every time she looks up to the beautiful blue sky. Natalie had said that within those four years of involvement, she has learned about having more ,”Acceptance, while appreciating the different qualities in all of us”. She had also talked about the importance of being a role model, sort of like being a big brother or sister to the wonderful people she and many others work with. Ben has learned to have more empathy for disabled and challenged people and learned to have more patience in life. Within the organization, he has made many new friends that have impacted his life in a positive light.
Some of the goals of the club include getting John Adams Middle School more involved, trying to create more relationships among students with buddies, and to have more acceptance for the buddies in our high school. They are also working at increasing their membership. An overall mission statement that they had stated would be to create real relationships, and more connections between students and the buddies, while being an overall captivated and laid back group.
Groups like Best Buddies are truly ones that are making a positive difference not only in our high school and community, but in the lives of individuals as well. If anything, Mason City High School needs more clubs and groups of individuals who are willing to make such an awesome change in the school community just as Best Buddies has. While at the same time showing those what the Mohawk student body and Mohawk spirit is all about when making a difference in the ones around us!