Victory for Best Buddies and PALS
On Oct. 25, PALS and Best Buddies won against the faculty team , 29-10.
Best Buddies and PALS touched hearts when they defeated the faculty, 29-10, on Oct. 25 at West High School.
After a month of planning, Best Buddies and PALS versus faculty basketball game was held in the gym. Adaptive PE students and others from Best Buddies and PALS joined on the court to defeat the faculty team. Students, teachers and families packed the stands to watch the basketball game. The gym was filled with the clapping and yelling of the crowd.
According to Mayra DeVries, PALS adviser, PALS planned the basketball game, and then decided they wanted the Best Buddies to be apart of it, too. Then more programs like Cheer, Dance, and Pep band joined, they felt it was important for everyone to support the students participating. DeVries thought that having the cheer team, dance team, pep band, Best Buddies, PALS, and crowd showed that the school cares. The PALS program is dedicated to building stronger connections in the West High community, and the basketball game was a way to show this.
“My favorite part was seeing the pure joy on the faces of the kids,” said DeVries, PALS adviser. DeVries thought the basketball game was the perfect thing for the students to look forward to.
PALs practiced with the students every Tuesday for a couple weeks prior to the game. “It’s one of my favorite things we do in Pals,” said Hannah Luce ‘18. “I know how much this game means to them.”
Helping out with adaptive P.E. classes is just one of the many things Pals does around the school and community. They also participate in running bingo games at Melrose Meadows Retirement Community, they sponsored giant Jenga at the Fall Fun Fest, they mentor students with various needs at Weber, and help West ELL students learn English.
“I think that it is important to be an active participant in creating the kind of community you want to live in and be a part of,” said Bailey Raso ‘18.