Students participating in Best Buddies activities at Tavares Middle School welcomed special guests to the campus on Tuesday to congratulate them for their award-winning parade entry in the Tavares Christmas Parade on Dec. 7.
Playing on the theme of the parade, “The Spirit of Giving,” about two dozen students from Tavares Middle created a parade float centered on the idea of giving the gift of time. A non-for-profit organization, Best Buddies middle school program pairs students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in one-to-one friendships with middle school students without intellectual and developmental disabilities. In addition to the benefit of developing new friendships, the activity gives students unique opportunities for leadership.
“The float included a big clock and a banner highlighting the words of being a friend and giving the gift of time,” said Michelle Metheny, Teacher at Tavares Middle School.
During the parade route, students handed out thousands of bookmarks that read on one side, “Spread the Word to End the Word (www.r-word.org)” and on the other side, an autism ribbon with the saying, “Different is not Broken.”
Metheny said the parade was probably one of the largest community disability awareness campaigns ever conducted by the Tavares Middle Best Buddies activity. To reward the student’s hard work and award-winning float, several representatives from the Central Florida Chapter of Best Buddies and Tavares Mayor Robert Wolfe visited the classroom. Mayor Wolfe presented the class with a trophy for “Best Themed” float at the Christmas parade.
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