At Liberty Middle School, Peer Buddies is a program which helps FLS (Functional Life Skill) students with intellectual disabilities work on social skills, building friendships, and more. According to Emma Brynildsen, some ways her and the FLS students interact are, “I get to hang out with them on Tuesday mornings. Just play games, draw, and play basketball.”
Activities that FLS students do with their buddies are things like Unified Sports. The sports they have are Basketball, Flag Football, Soccer, Bowling, Dance, Bocce Ball, Bags, Track and Field, and even Esports! Emma Brynildsen participates in Unified Basketball, and described it as, “When our FLS kids need a little extra help dribbling the ball down the court, so you get them set up so they can shoot the baskets!”
From the teacher’s side of peer buddies, they see it as an amazing time for FLS students to engage in social interaction. Mrs. Alyssa Smith said Peer Buddies is important to her because, “Having friends and having relationships outside of our class shows that students are promoting inclusiveness with people of all different abilities.” Peer Buddies is an amazing program to make friends with people that might be a little different than you. If you are reading this as a 6th or 7th grader, keep an eye out for next year’s sign-ups! And don’t forget to, “Love everybody equally!” -Emma Brynildsen.
