This bud's for you

Best Buddies Deutschland ist Mitglied bei Best Buddies International, dessen Mission darin besteht, die Freundschaft zwischen nicht behinderten Schülern und Studenten und jungen Menschen mit geistigen Behinderungen zu fördern.


There's a bit of German for you, hehe. But anyway, the English translation follows at the Best Buddies website.

Here's a moving article about how perceptions of some high school students were changed for the better, thanks to a special education teacher.

Best Buddies bring Mt. Lebanon student body together

Thursday, November 10, 2005

By Mary Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Special education teacher David Breier had been looking for quite some time for a program that would integrate his students with the rest of the student population at Mt. Lebanon High School.

This fall, with the help of junior Elizabeth Lisowksi, 16, a cheerleader and student council member, a local chapter of Best Buddies International, a group that pairs special needs students with able-bodied students, was founded at the high school.

It didn't take long for Mr. Breier to see the program was just what he had been looking for.

At the homecoming dance last month, cheerleaders, football players and other student leaders invited the special education students, who traditionally congregated in their classroom, onto the dance floor with the rest of the student body.

Both groups of students danced so hard that, Mr. Breier said, he started to worry that some would dehydrate. But that, he said, was a good problem.

Full story at Post-Gazette.com