Taking inspiration from former co-presidents and Class of 2023 graduates Josie Starr and Dani London, the Best Buddies program organized an inclusion hand mural over the week of Feb. 3. Students had the opportunity to “leave their mark” by purchasing a handprint to add to the new mural located adjacent to the Commons.
Best Buddies was originally founded in 1987 by activist Kennedy Shriver as a student at Georgetown University. The program’s first and largest chapter started at Georgetown following the 1975 passing of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, requiring all schools to accept federal funds toward providing equal access to education for adolescents with mental and physical disabilities. Taking inspiration, Shriver’s goal was to foster one-on -one friendships between people with and without intellectual or developmental disabilities.
The original mural painted in 2022 started as a fundraising idea to allow all buddies free admission to the annual Friendship Walk. An event sponsored by national Best Buddies organizations, the Friendship Walk is a leading fundraising event supporting inclusion for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. “People were skeptical, but the mural had a much better turnout than people thought – every teacher, every buddy, every security guard, every student that walked by did it,” Starr said.
With the long over-due renovations this past summer, the Best Buddies inclusion mural and other artworks throughout the building were painted over. “I was definitely pretty upset; no one likes to hear that something they spent hours on is getting painted over. The mural was supposed to be special to a lot of people, all of the buddies that put their hands on it can’t redo that,” Starr said.
The new mural brings just as much significance, serving as a constant reminder of togetherness, school spirit, inclusion and equality. “At the start of the year I definitely knew I wanted to make it a goal to bring back the mural,” junior and current Best Buddies Co-President Jilli Nailbotsky said.
Throughout the week, students made their way to the Commons during lunch to add their name and a handprint to the wall. “I’m really glad I put my handprint, it feels permanent and like I’m a part of something,” sophomore Ashley Rudolph said.
Over 350 students and teachers, in addition to buddies, added handprints to the new mural. While initially a fundraiser, Best Buddies pivoted several days into the process deciding to allow students to put their handprint for free. “We switched to making it free a few days in. Our main goal was just to get as many hands as we could to spread awareness and inclusion,” Nalibotsky said.
