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- Best Buddies Georgia Buddy Beat! - March 2024
Best Buddies Georgia Buddy Beat! - March 2024
Your one-stop shop for all things happening with Best Buddies in Georgia schools.
Doug Peters
March 01, 2024
Need the condensed details? We have you covered! Here is a summary:
March is Best Buddies Month! Please visit our community toolkit, Best Buddies University, and the Spread The Word: Inclusion site for event ideas.
Best Buddies Leadership Conference (BBLC) registration is now live 🎉! Please visit https://www.bestbuddies.org/bblc/ for more information about registration, payment, travel, and financial aid. While BBLC is open to everyone, all high school and college chapters are expected to send one person to the conference. BBLC is scheduled for Friday, July 19th through Monday, July 22nd at Indiana University Bloomington.
Need a refresher on what we discussed at Back to Best Buddies? No sweat! All of the training materials can be found in the “Trainings” section of the BBGA Google Drive Toolkit here.
The next Leaders League is scheduled for Wednesday, March 13th from 7:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. via Zoom! During this meeting, we will discuss all things Friendship Walk so you don’t want to miss it! If you are a Friendship Walk Coordinator, we highly recommend attending this meeting. Please register here.
Has your chapter registered for Friendship Walk yet? If not, what in the WORLD are you waiting for 😅?! We hope you register your school and join us for a day of FREE food, lots of fun, and friendship. Don’t experience FOMO; register TODAY!
We are proud to partner with Miss Cobb County Teen 👑, Carrington Manous for an Ambassador Training Speaking Series starting this month through the rest of the year. The “OUR Differences Don’t Define Us” Tour is underway, with the first stop taking place on Saturday, March 9th from 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at The Standard Atlanta, 708 Spring St NW, Atlanta, GA 30308. Please click HERE for the registration link.
Do you want Carrington to bring this workshop to your school? We can make that happen! Please reach out to Doug Peters, Deputy Director of Programs, at [email protected] with your preferred weekend date and time, and we can coordinate schedules.
Did you know that Best Buddies is more than a school friendship program? We also have Jobs, Living, and Leadership Development Programs in Georgia as well. A HUGE shoutout to Markell and Antonio for securing jobs at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and congratulations to Ashanti and our Jobs team!
Want to know more about our Jobs, Living, and Citizens Programs? For Jobs, please reach out to Ashanti Almond, Lead Employment Consultant, at [email protected]. For Living and our adult Friendship/Citizens Program, please reach out to Ari Hall, Lead Program Manager, at [email protected]. For School Friendship and Leadership Development Programs, please reach out to me, Doug Peters, Deputy Director of Programs, at [email protected].
Thank you for submitting your Chapter Check-In Forms last month! Who will be this month’s prize giveaway winner 👀? Stay tuned!
Is your school or chapter involved with DECA? If so, we want to hear from you! Please send a message to our State Director, Katie Stanton, at [email protected].
Special Touch Ministry is hosting a camp from August 19th through August 22nd at the Timberlake Retreat Center in Forsyth, GA. Please click this link for the flyer and reach out to [email protected] for more information!
Meet our Buddy Spotlight, Will Scott and Xavier Friendy from Tattnall County High School!
It’s never too soon to think about the End-of-the-Year reports! Stay ahead of the curve by uploading your goals to BB360 and keeping track of all of the amazing things you are doing this school year.
Join our virtual community of Remind and GroupMe!
March is Best Buddies Month!
Happy Best Buddies Month and Developmental Disability Awareness Month!
Best Buddies Month is celebrated annually throughout March. What started in 1993 as a one-day event has become a month-long celebration promoting one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, leadership development, and inclusive living for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
This year also marks the 15th anniversary of the Spread the Word (STW) campaign. As such, STW is going back to its roots to focus on ending the use of derogatory and hateful language.
Remember that our words matter. Our attitude matters. And our actions matter. This year, we are calling on our communities to host awareness events, take the pledge, and help Spread the Word. How have words impacted you? How can you positively impact the attitudes of those in your community? How can you take positive actions to create a more inclusive space free of derogatory and hateful language?
In 2024, the annual Day of Awareness will be held on Wednesday, March 6. While most activities are centered on or near that awareness day in March, people everywhere are encouraged to spread the word throughout their communities and schools throughout the year through pledge drives, youth rallies, and online activation.
Our Atlanta Metro Citizens Chapter is hosting our very own Spread the Word event. We hope you join us as we take the pledge! Please see the details below:
Name: Spread the Word » Inclusion at Marietta Square
Date: Saturday, March 30
Time: 2:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Location: Marietta Square, 99 S Park Square NE, Marietta, GA 30060
Registration Link: https://forms.bestbuddies.org/4903690?eventId=a18Uc000005RJa1
Contact Info: Ari Hall, Lead Program Manager, [email protected]
Please visit our community toolkit, Best Buddies University, and the Spread The Word: Inclusion site for event ideas for your school chapter.
Be sure to use the hashtag #BestBuddiesMonth and tag @bestbuddiesga in your posts. Let's go, BBGA!
Chapter Check-In Forms - Winner Selected!
We are thrilled to have over 40 elementary, middle, high school, and collegiate Best Buddies school chapters in Georgia! We are so glad to have you a part of our community and look forward to doing amazing work together.
With so many schools and one school program staff, this form was created to ensure you get the individualized support you need to be successful. This form should be completed once a month per school and should take a only a few minutes. Only one form is needed per school chapter!
In the spirit of fun and friendship, we are doing a monthly random prize drawing for chapters that complete the Chapter Check-In Form on time for the rest of the school year! The winner for January is….*cues virtual drumroll*
🥁🥁🥁…….
Lisa Leiter from Marietta High School! 📢! I will reach out to you individually with the next steps.
Who will be our next winner? We will keep you posted RIGHT HERE in the next Georgia Buddy Beat! Thank you again for completing the check-in forms. It is a HUGE HELP in providing support and helping your chapter continue the great work. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any assistance!
Registration is NOW LIVE for the 2024 Best Buddies Leadership Conference (July 19th-July 22nd)!
We are excited to announce that we are returning to Indiana University Bloomington on July 19th-July 22nd for the Best Buddies Leadership Conference! Best Buddies Leadership Conference (BBLC) unites Best Buddies leaders, volunteers, and community advocates from around the globe to imagine, create, lead and empower the future of the disability rights and inclusion movement. Over the past 30 years, BBLC has inspired thousands of leaders to be Best Buddies advocates and to bring about social change in their communities.
In 2024, BBLC will be held at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and will bring together leaders in from all over the world to learn about the Best Buddies movement. We encourage all Best Buddies leaders in our schools and communities to join us!
For more information about registration and general information about the conference experience, please click the button below.
Best Buddies Friendship Walk: Three Georgia Cities and Locations, Three Times the Fun!
Friendship Walk season is underway, and we are thrilled to host THREE different walks this year in Atlanta, Macon, and Guyton. A HUGE BEST BUDDIES shoutout to the following schools for creating teams and/or fundraising! We could not host this year’s Friendship Walk without YOU, and look forward to a day of fun.
Decatur High School
University of North Georgia
Pope High School
Riverwood High School and Heards Ferry Elementary School
Emory University
Denmark High School
Georgia Tech (with Best Buddies Living)
Beacon Hill Middle School
Campbell Middle School
Sand Hill Elementary School
Ebenezer Middle School
Blandford Elementary School
Best Buddies Friendship Walk stands out as a premier nationwide event dedicated to promoting inclusion for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). With approximately 45,000 participants joining Friendship Walks globally, this event promises a lively and family-friendly celebration featuring FREE food, music, dancing, photo opportunities, and engaging activities.
Our Atlanta Friendship Walk is taking place on Saturday, April 20th at Blackburn Park from 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and the Coastal Georgia Walk is taking place on Sunday, April 21st at South Effingham High School from 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. We will keep you posted on the Macon Friendship Walk date, but please register in advance and join in on the fun!
We also wanted to share a few of our incentives for fundraising! If you are unable to fundraise this year, no worries! The most important thing is seeing you at Friendship Walk as we celebrate your chapter community. However, there are some pretty cool incentives for individual and group fundraising if you decide to do so. You have the potential to receive incentives from both Best Buddies in Georgia AND Best Buddies International, so you can get twice as many items! Please see the info below for this year’s incentives from our state office and headquarters.
Also, please check out Best Buddies University and our Google Toolkit for fundraising ideas!
Best Buddies International Individual Fundraising Incentives
Best Buddies in Georgia School Chapter Incentives
Celebrate Best Buddies Month by hosting a Spread the Word event!
As you recruit new members to your Best Buddies chapter and plan inclusive events, don’t forget to make Best Buddies fun!
We have many resources on Best Buddies University and our Best Buddies in Georgia Chapter Toolkit, including match party ideas, recruitment items, training materials from BTBB, and other helpful documents. For more questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. Thank you!
Upcoming Events
Remind and GroupMe
We are increasing our chapter support by using Remind to send updates and GroupMe to facilitate the exchange of ideas for a successful year. We hope you join our community!
In the spirit of collaboration, you can use these spaces (including BB360’s Chatter feature) to speak with other chapter leaders to exchange event ideas, fundraiser concepts, BB360 troubleshooting, share event photos, great news, helpful tips, etc. Join our community by clicking the links below!
Remind
GroupMe
Buddy Spotlight - Meet Will and Xavier from Tattnall County High School!
We are thrilled to showcase this month’s Buddy Spotlight, Will Scott and Xavier Friendy! Will and Xavier were submitted by their faculty advisor, Sarah Lopez-Willis. Please see the quote below to learn more about Will and Xavier.
“Xavier Friendy has been a great buddy to Will Scott in our club. He is a Senior who doesn't have to be on campus this semester, but he comes regularly to eat lunch with Will and participate in any of our club events. He has gone out of his way on several occasions to come to school just so he can visit with his buddy. We will be sad to see him go after graduation.“
We are so happy to have Xavier, Will, Sarah, and our Tattnall County High School community with us at Best Buddies in Georgia! Thank you for sharing this spotlight and we appreciate all your hard work in creating an inclusive environment for your school community. To submit a Buddy Spotlight for a member in your chapter, please send a message to Doug Peters at [email protected]!