Jill's Journal: Best Buddies prom will make you smile

There are some events that I cover year after year that never feel routine. The Best Buddies Prom at Brandon Valley High School happens to be one of them.

As a photographer, you learn to anticipate moments: The posed smiles, the group shots, the big entrances. But this event has a way of reminding you that the most meaningful moments are the ones that aren’t scripted. They happen without warning: A nervous glance that turns into a confident grin, a handshake that becomes a hug, a quiet student finding their place on the dance floor.

Best Buddies, at its core, is simple. It pairs students in the mainstream with classmates who have special needs, and without fail, creates friendships that might not otherwise ever happen. But the impact of these connections is anything but simple. It’s powerful. It’s lasting. And at the Best Buddies Prom, these friendships are on full display.

There’s something really special about this event.

Maybe it’s the way everyone seems a little more present. Or the way the room fills not just with music, but with encouragement. No one stands on the sidelines for long. Someone always notices. Someone always reaches out a hand.

And when they do, something remarkable happens.

Barriers fall away.

The labels that can so easily define high school life – athlete, artist, popular, quiet, different – don’t seem to carry the same weight here. What takes their place is something far more important: belonging.

You see it in the way our Brandon Valley kids cheer each other on, celebrating not just Rigley Bowar’s impressive dance moves, but in the quiet, more personal moments, too. You see it in a kid’s courage to step onto the floor, to try something new, to simply be seen. You see it in the friendships that have clearly grown beyond the program itself, rooted in shared laughter, trust and that oh-so-important time spent together.

And you feel it.

This night isn’t about perfection. It’s not about having the perfect dress or knowing the right dance steps. It’s about showing up for each other. It’s about kindness that asks for nothing in return.

In a world that often feels divided by differences, by expectations, by the pressure to fit into certain molds, Best Buddies is a reminder of what school, and really life, is supposed to be about. Connection. Inclusion. Friendship.

It’s easy to talk about the importance of those things. It’s harder to live them out. But at Brandon Valley, this program does exactly that. It creates space for students to learn from one another, to grow together, and to understand that our differences are not obstacles, but opportunities to be more compassionate, more patient, more human.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s why this event never gets old.

***

The Best Buddies Prom grand march begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday in BV’s Performing Arts Center. I invite you to join me in the audience to share in the true joy our students experience from being part of our “Best Buddies” program.