Butler’s Best Buddies Eggstravaganza gets families ready for Easter
Butler’s Best Buddies Eggstravaganza brought Easter spirited fun to families, helping to fund the program and bring peers with differences closer together.
Best Buddies is an international program formed with the intention of promoting inclusion and friendships between those with and without intellectual or developmental disabilities. The Butler Area High School’s Best Buddies Club pairs students in one-on-one friendships and gives them both the opportunity to gain experiences they may have missed out on otherwise.
“It really gets students outside their comfort zone to learn how to interact with each other. It really promotes inclusion and awareness,” educator and supervisor Kaitlyn Reges said.
The event had various activities such as a 5K race and Easter egg hunts for different age groups. The race started at 10 a.m. as runners looped around the campus. During the event, Butler students led tossing games for the younger children to play and visit with the Easter Bunny.
The Easter Egg Hunts were split up into five separate age groups to allow every child to get some eggs. Every egg had a prize in it, whether it be a sticker or a piece of candy, each participant took home a treat.
The eggstravaganza was almost entirely student run and not just by Best Buddies members. Students from sport teams, the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and the Spanish club showed up to make sure the day was well run.
“We’re very fortunate to have a really good group of kids,” Reges said about the volunteers.
Events such as these provide funding to the clubs to give the students opportunities to go out into the community. They’ve been able to take field trips and allow friends to go out to eat without worrying about being able to afford it.
Butler High School’s Best Buddies group has been recognized as an outstanding Pennsylvania chapter of the year and has also been recognized as a National Banner School for the Special Olympics for their Unified Sports program.
