Mansfield High Honored For Best Buddies Work

MANSFIELD, MA — Mansfield High School has been honored for its work with Best Buddies as the Massachusetts 2020 Outstanding High School Best Buddies Chapter.

Incoming Best Buddies Chapter President Lulu Cavicchi received the award virtually on behalf of Mansfield High School's Best Buddies Chapter last week. Winners were announced on Instagram Live.

Mansfield High Superintendent Teresa Murphy said there were 28 nominations out of 235 chapters this year.

"Our chapter is honored to have received such an award that recognizes all of our members' hard work," said faculty co-advisor Kelly Kenny. "Our goal as an organization is to encourage friendship and inclusion between peers who have special abilities and the general population. Receiving recognition from the state is extremely rewarding and will hopefully encourage more people to join us in our mission."

Best Buddies is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1989, by Anthony Shriver, to provide opportunities for the more than 200 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

"The main focus of this year was our mission of spreading inclusion," Chapter President Perry
said. "We surely spent a lot of time working together and making sure the matches were perfect. Our events were meticulously planned and we strived for every member to have a meaningful experience. I was honored to be president of the Mansfield Best Buddies and I am excited for the future of this program as we accept this exciting award."

This year’s events included a trip to Ward’s Berry Farm in September, a Match Party for the new buddy pairs to meet and an Autumn Festival, Friendsgiving Celebration of Friendship in November, a movie night in December, seasonal craft activities in February, a walking field trip for ice cream at Flannel Cow Creamery and a Virtual Social Media Spirit Week in March.

"We love our mission of spreading the word of inclusion throughout Mansfield High School and the Mansfield community!" faculty co-advisor Christine Riley said. "We are extremely blessed to be a part of such a welcoming community and we look forward to continuing to establish meaningful friendships with others."