During the week of March 10, Archbishop Carroll’s Best Buddies Club held its annual Spread the Word Week to raise awareness of intellectual disabilities and support the club.
Best Buddies at Carroll was created to enable Carroll students to socialize with and aid the St. Katherine’s Day School, a high school for students with intellectual disabilities that operates inside Carroll. Spread the Word Week is the special week that furthers this goal.
The moderator of the club commented on the strenuous effort needed to prepare for the week.
“EVERYONE is needed to make our club a success for everyone – especially our St. Katherine’s partners.” said Mrs. Kathy Tucker. “We understand that not everyone has ‘treasure’ to offer, but everyone has time and can add some talent.”
The week began with St. Katherine’s holding a bake sale in the Carroll Corner in the cafeteria. Best Buddies also set up a Spread the Week banner that students could sign throughout the week.
The following day, both the Carroll and St. Katherine’s communities attended a Mass in the auditorium in honor of the week. Father Joseph McCaffrey, Carroll’s chaplain, performed a blessing on Best Buddies members after the Mass.
The pivotal event during the week was the assembly. During this, Best Buddies organized a dance competition, presentation, and multiple speeches to showcase and promote the efficacy of St. Katherine’s and Spread the Word programs across the country.
Best Buddies’ president commented on the importance of the assembly for the club.
“Every year, Best Buddies holds an assembly for the whole school to celebrate Spread the Word Week, an annual week used to raise awareness to ‘spread the word to end the word,” said Adelina D’Achille.
The week cooled down with bracelet making and t-shirt selling on Friday to conclude Spread the Word Week.
Spread the Word Week even illuminated the success of Best Buddies for some current members.
“Best Buddies enlightened me on a community I’ve never met before, and it showed me how to communicate better and to be around others in general,” said junior and peer buddy Brandon Rivera.
