By: Sami Woodcock and Brooke Helgesen

I am Sami Woodcock. I am 17 years old and a junior at Thornton Academy. I have Down Syndrome. Besides my extra chromosome, I’m just like my Best Buddy, Brooke.

I am Brooke Helgesen. I am 18 years old and a senior at Thornton Academy. The students in our Best Buddy chapter are phenomenal, every single one of us. My buddies have shown me resilience and proven with a little support they are capable of everything.

Sami loves dancing, playing on a team, being a part of the student council and being a leader and in our Best Buddy chapter. Brooke is the student council and student body secretary, a member of National Honor Society, and Best Buddy chapter president. We both play unified sports, practice for and attend Special Olympics events, take unified physical education and art classes at school and are both mentors in our Best Buddies program.

Sami tells Brooke the best jokes and has the biggest heart. We aren’t only buddies; we are friends, and our friendship never would have blossomed the way it has without Best Buddies. It has given us the opportunity to attend leadership conferences, athletic games, proms, dances, movies, dinners, parties, Friendship Walks, and so much more.

Sami loves knowing she has so many friends through Best Buddies to count on and feel included everywhere she goes. Brooke’s buddies have taught her compassion and allow her to grow. As buddies, we trust each other and know we all want the same outcome- gains, no matter how big or how little- they are all successes. We are more alike than we are different as our interview shows.