Friends Sam Brown, left, and Aiden Ace celebrate the Butler Senior High School Chapter of the Best Buddies National Chapter of the year award at Alameda Park on Monday evening.

Jasmine Pisor went from a shy student to a social butterfly during her time at Butler Senior High School.

Throughout her time there, she made three close friends through the Best Buddies program, which pairs students with intellectual disabilities with students without, to promote an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere in the school.

Jasmine said she had “so much in common” with her best buddies, and they would spend time shopping, going to restaurants or just at each others' homes.

“It helped me a lot with meeting new people and new friends,” she said. “It was really great to get to know people.”

Butler Senior High School's chapter was selected as the 2021 Best Buddies chapter of the year at the annual leadership conference earlier this month. The school was chosen out of 1,375 high school chapters nationally.

The school district's chapter had a picnic Monday evening at Alameda Park, and welcomed all of its approximately 100 members for a night of celebration.

Sarah Fiorina, a student ambassador for the club, just graduated from the school. Despite her graduation, Fiorina said she plans to continue in a college Best Buddies chapter. Most importantly, she said she is keeping her friendships along the way.“It's great for friendships when you're all together,” she said. “I talked to my buddies every day, and we still keep in touch.”Faculty advisers Michelle Yeager and Kait Reges said the program is entering its fourth year at BHS. The school paired off 31 “Buddies” this past year.Each pair was instructed to speak with each other at least once a week and hang out at least twice a month. The entire group would also get together for activities.Reges said the impact the club made on the school is huge and improved the lives of all students.That was especially true for the buddies, she said.“I get chills because I think about our field day,” Reges said. “Everyone sat in a circle and said what they liked about it, and the buddies could confidently talk in front of 100 people — it was amazing.”Barb Pisor, Jasmine's mom, said the club changed her daughter's life. Without it, she may never have been introduced to social situations with different kinds of people.“It was hugely helpful to her social skills,” Pisor said. “Before this, she mainly stuck to talking to people with similar disabilities. Being paired one-on-one was so helpful.”Ashleigh Gladde, a buddy in the program, said she got to have new experiences thanks to the program.“It got me out of my comfort zone,” Ashleigh said. “With autism, it was hard. But it was fun to go out with people.”

Sarah Fiorina, a student ambassador for the club, just graduated from the school. Despite her graduation, Fiorina said she plans to continue in a college Best Buddies chapter. Most importantly, she said she is keeping her friendships along the way.“It's great for friendships when you're all together,” she said. “I talked to my buddies every day, and we still keep in touch.”Faculty advisers Michelle Yeager and Kait Reges said the program is entering its fourth year at BHS. The school paired off 31 “Buddies” this past year.Each pair was instructed to speak with each other at least once a week and hang out at least twice a month. The entire group would also get together for activities.Reges said the impact the club made on the school is huge and improved the lives of all students.That was especially true for the buddies, she said.“I get chills because I think about our field day,” Reges said. “Everyone sat in a circle and said what they liked about it, and the buddies could confidently talk in front of 100 people — it was amazing.”Barb Pisor, Jasmine's mom, said the club changed her daughter's life. Without it, she may never have been introduced to social situations with different kinds of people.“It was hugely helpful to her social skills,” Pisor said. “Before this, she mainly stuck to talking to people with similar disabilities. Being paired one-on-one was so helpful.”Ashleigh Gladde, a buddy in the program, said she got to have new experiences thanks to the program.“It got me out of my comfort zone,” Ashleigh said. “With autism, it was hard. But it was fun to go out with people.”