Plum High School Best Buddies showcase friendship at Thanksgiving dance

Before folks carved turkey or dipped into cranberry sauce, a group of Plum High School students showed how thankful they were to have friendships with their peers at a special event.

Plum’s chapter of Best Buddies presented an inaugural Harvest Dance at the school the day before Thanksgiving.

Best Buddies is an international organization dedicated to building friendships between people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“It’s an all-inclusive program, and we just want everybody to be a part of this school and feel involved,” said club president and senior Sophie Vargesko. “We don’t know what everyone’s home situations are like, so we wanted them to have a good time. We make friendships. If we see someone sitting alone at lunch we go sit with them whether they have special needs or not.”

About 40 students moved to the music, decorated sugar cookies and played games such as Foosball, ping-pong and cornhole.

“It looks fun and it can be different,” said sophomore Braeden Tronsberg. “You never know what’s going to come out. (Dances) can be real fun to experience.”

Freshman Collin Pupilli showcased his dance moves to Silentó’s “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).”

“This is my first dance of the year here,” he said. “It’s enjoyable. I think it’s a great way to bring people together so that they can have relationships with other people.”

Club advisers include high school teachers Gina Dessell and Samor Pieper, who also brought their children to the festivities. They both commended the students for putting everything together.

“The kids were looking for something to do over the holiday break, and they decided to get together and play and hang out,” Dessell said. “We have a mix here of special and general education kids.”

Buddies also hang out about twice a month outside of school.