Seniors Nora Pitt and Addy Palmer recently attended the international Best Buddies Leadership Conference (BBLC) at Indiana University to bring their learnings back to Middleton High School’s Best Buddies Club chapter.
Pitt and Palmer are leaders of the school’s Best Buddies Club, a peer-led program that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, leadership development and inclusive living for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The conference brought together more than 3,000 Best Buddies leaders, volunteers and community advocates worldwide to shape the future of the disability rights and inclusion movement.
Palmer shared why wanted to attend the conference.
“I wanted to attend BBLC because of our past leaders – Cate, Tvisha, and Jack – who all said such amazing things about the weekend, and I wanted to experience it for myself,” Palmer said. “BBLC is one of the only times where you are able to meet other leaders not only from schools in our surrounding area but all over the country and even the world. Our partner state was Arizona, and we met people from South Korea, the Phillipines, Ghana, etc., which is a huge opportunity to learn different skills and tactics to make our chapter the best it can be.”
Palmer said they’ll bring stronger leadership skills and learnings from the conference’s speakers to Middleton High School’s chapter in the fall.
“We had breakout sessions with our partner state that taught me how our chapter runs logistically as well as what we can do to better ourselves and keep other people coming back,” Palmer said. “We also had an opportunity to hear from some amazing speakers such as Miss America; Madison and Subodh from “Love on the Spectrum;” Garin Flowers; and my personal favorites, Kyle and Brent Pease. They taught me some very important lessons and opened my eyes to all the different experiences people within Best Buddies may go through.”
The conference inspired Pitt and Palmer to think of ways to partner with other clubs and organizations.
“Nora and I had an amazing brainstorming session, and we have a lot of ideas for different activities and even some collabs with other chapters and clubs at our school,” Palmer said.
They’re excited to see how the club, which grew to more than 100 students last year, will grow in the year ahead. The club meets monthly, and students create crafts, participate in activities, and develop their advocacy skills. Club members also have buddy pairings for one-on-one activities outside of school, such as attending University of Wisconsin-Madison sporting events.
WKOW 27 visited a club meeting last year to learn about the impact it’s making at Middleton High School. Among the club’s highlights was hosting Middleton High School’s first inclusive prom, which included music and snacks plus a quiet space for calming activities.
The club’s advisor is Laurie Wood, an occupational therapist at Middleton High School and Clark Street Community School who also works with Cardinal Academy, MCPASD’s post-high school program for students ages 18-21 with Individual Education Programs (IEPs). Best Buddies Club is among the programs MCPASD supports, along with Cardinal Academy and the adaptive sports league, for students with disabilities as part of efforts to create a welcoming environment for all students.
Palmer shared what she’s looking forward to in the 2026-27 school year.
“I am most excited to see all our buddies again and have all the positive and fun energy back in my daily life!” Palmer said.
Follow the Best Buddies Club on Instagram to learn more.