Gallery • 10 Photos

Samhita Vasudevan

Best Buddies - Best Buddies is an international program, and NA has its own high school chapter. It pairs students with intellectual and developmental disabilities with their peers and is open to any student. To build friendships, Best Buddies tries to do an “outing” monthly, where they can go to a recreational place like SkyZone or Fun Slides, or do activities at school. Sign ups are at the beginning of each school year, so the administrators can pair the students, but if you want to join later in the year, you can become an associate member.

On Wednesday, April 10th, 2019, the first NA Celebration of Us commenced at North Allegheny Senior High School. NAEye was able to attend the event, and we were glad to see so many faces representing the diversity of NA and our whole community.

We reached out to Mrs. Fraser, the event coordinator, and Jaime Martinez, the lead student organizer, and asked them a couple of questions regarding the Celebration of Us.

What did you hope to achieve by holding the “Celebration of Us” festival?

Jaime: “The Celebration of Us was meant to create a safe and festive environment for the community to congregate and bond over the talent, works, and cultures of the school district. I hoped to see all of the attendees come out of the event with new knowledge and a motivation to further their efforts to teach their students and themselves how to be better global citizens that are aware and proactive to the needs of their neighbors and their society.”

Mrs. Fraser: “Our goal for Celebration of Us was to create an atmosphere of learning and acceptance, where both students and community members come together to share what makes them unique. Building cultural responsive individuals was the mission of this event.”

What are your reflections on the event, now that it’s over?

Jaime: It was a fantastic night! I was elated to see the turnout, and was overjoyed at the sight of people bonding over good food, interesting organizations, and elegant performances. I saw so many smiles, and the effort of the presenters, organizers, performers, and volunteers was apparent as everything flowed magnificently. In sum, it exceeded my expectations — it was more wonderful than I could have imagined! I’m excited to see how it goes in 2021!

Mrs. Fraser: I am so proud of the Diversity Committee’s commitment to recognizing the importance of diversity and inclusion within the North Allegheny School District, through organizing the Celebration of Us event. I witnessed students educating one another through conversation and performances, expanding upon their understanding of organizations such as Best Buddies, GSA, Social Justice, and Chinese cultures, to name a few.  It was a true celebration of the NASD family!