Medford High School Best Buddies Program fosters inclusivity, leadership

By Crystal Yormick 

In the halls of Medford High School, about 30 students who might otherwise not have met have found a place to connect. Twice a month, they spend time with one another through activities like baking, crafting and celebrating holidays.

This club is the school’s chapter of Best Buddies, an international organization dedicated to bridging social, physical and economic gaps for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The program, implemented here in March 2025, hosts group events and provides one-to-one matches between students with and without disabilities. It will celebrate its first anniversary this month. 

“There’s just never been an entry point for some of these kids to meet, and that’s where [the] Best Buddies program comes into,” said John Skerry, a co-adviser of the program and a teacher at Medford High. 

Student leaders in the club said they’ve gone outside their comfort zones, met people they wouldn’t have met otherwise, and presented in front of the Medford School Committee and at the club fair. They’ve raised money, taken on leadership responsibilities, and made new friends since joining Best Buddies. 

“I get shy a little bit because I don’t socialize. I have social anxiety,” said sophomore Savannah Brazell. “Now that I’m a Best Buddies director, I feel like I’m coming out of my shell and talking to people.”

The club began with group activities last year, said Kasey Goldberg, Medford’s other Best Buddies co-adviser. Goldberg, who is a teacher for Medford High’s Access Program — a life skills, special education program — said this school year the club implemented one-to-one matches between students. Now when the group hosts big activities, students with a match can also hang out with their buddies during that time. There are currently 10 pairs of students with buddies, but a one-to-one match is not a club requirement.

“So [there are] 20 students total who have a match,” Goldberg said. “Then the other 13 either weren’t interested in having a match or couldn’t make the time commitment, but they still wanted to be in Best Buddies and a part of the group.”

The students who do have buddies are paired based on interests and personality or through the organic connections they make. Goldberg said having a buddy helps students who are shy to communicate with someone rather than sitting alone. 

“You’re still friends and connect with everyone in the club, but it’s like that person is kind of your person to sit down next to them first at the club,” said junior Norah Berson, the club’s vice president. 

President Violet Freimark said the club has helped people connect like she has with her buddy, who she said usually keeps to herself. 

“I’ve been able to make a good connection with her when she usually wouldn’t reach out to people, which is always very nice,” Freimark said.

Some of the student leaders said since they’ve been introduced to their buddies through the club, they notice each other much more across campus than before. 

“Ever since we’ve become buddies, I see them at least three times a day,” Berson said. “We always say hi to each other.” 

Berson said she’s formed an “out-of-school and in-school connection” through the program. She said she joined because she wanted to be a part of a supportive environment and now sees her buddy three times a day. 

“This feels great to kind of be a leader and connect with people that I don’t know as well and also just share Best Buddies to other people,” Berson said.

Because the program is so new, an important aspect is educating people about it and what it means to its members, said sophomore Katherine Beagan, the club’s communication coordinator. Beagan and her buddy Kelly Dao are on the student leadership team together.

“I wanted to make sure that everybody was in a place where they could feel safe and where they could be themselves because it can sometimes be hard to foster that environment in high schools,” Freimark said. 

Skerry said he started the program last year because he wanted to foster inclusively at the school. Goldberg said she saw a notice last year about Best Buddies coming to Medford High. It’s the “perfect opportunity” for her students to become involved with an after-school club setting, she said. 

“It’s been a great time so far, and it’s great to see my students so involved,” Goldberg said. “The inclusion aspect is just amazing to see.” 

Skerry and Goldberg said the Medford community has been receptive to the program. Local businesses have sponsored some of the club’s events, like pumpkin decorating, and donated snacks for meetings. The school’s culinary program donated a sheet cake for one of its events, Skerry said.

While the program has stayed within the high school so far, Skerry said he hopes to expand to the middle school and to participate in events with Best Buddies programs at other schools. 

Organizers said they always welcome more people to join the club, but they have a good group right now, too. 

“It’s so heartwarming every time that I leave there,” Goldberg said. “It just feels so good to see the inclusion and how happy my students get having a buddy.”

This story is part of a partnership between Gotta Know Medford and the Boston University Department of Journalism.