As their chapter event for the month of  November, on Wednesday, November 19th at 4:30 PM, the Arrowhead High School chapter in Hartland, Wisconsin, put on their first ever “Healthy Buddy Night.”  This night was dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles for all chapter members.

The night started with a zumba session. Two instructors taught 30 minutes of zumba for anyone who wanted to participate.

“Zumba was my favorite part of the night,” says junior associate buddy Madison Dettmann. “I loved dancing with everyone, and the instructors made it fun and easy.”

“Often times, living a healthy lifestyle is difficult for people with IDD, so it’s important to us that we teach our buddies new ways to exercise and eat right,” says chapter president Cierra Schmidt.

After the zumba lesson,  the chapter sat down to drink fresh smoothies made by the chapter co-president, Isabelle Gallagher. Students could choose from an array of fruits to be blended together with almond milk and ice.

“I loved the smoothies. I had strawberry and mango,” says buddy Hannah Olsen.

At the event, healthy muffins were also available. Students could choose banana or blueberry muffins to eat with their smoothies, all free of charge.

While eating snacks, the chapter broke off to play board games that taught about healthy living.

“At the Best Buddies Leadership conference, they really stressed the importance of promoting a healthy lifestyle for our buddies, so we thought we would incorporate it into our chapter event!” says Schmidt.

“I had so much fun,” says Dettmann. “I hope they do it again next year.”

As of now, the Arrowhead Chapter is planning on having another Healthy Buddy event next year.

Schmidt says, “I think everyone learned some cool things about living right, like that working out can be fun, and eating healthy can be delicious.”

With this being only the second chapter event, Schmidt and the other members of the chapter have high hopes for the rest of the year.

“The event definitely promoted healthy behavior. From the minute we got their to the minute we left, we were immersed in a healthy lifestyle,” says Dettmann.