Photos courtesy of Tina Charles-Beery
Aidan and Lindey
Aidan and Meghan Beery are aiming to help create a more inclusive world, one friendship at a time.
As an incoming sixth-grader at Hastings Middle School, Aidan obtained information about the school’s chapter of Best Buddies, an organization designed to form friendships between one person with a disability and one without. Aidan’s mom, Tina Charles-Beery, saw a great opportunity in it.
“As the mom of a kid with an intellectual disability, it’s really hard to facilitate playdates and activities and things because it’s a little awkward,” Charles-Beery says. “So, it was great because it came out as an advertisement like, ‘Do you want to join this group?’ I essentially did it as a way to get him involved with other students and to facilitate some friendships in a way that made it a little easier to do so.”
Aidan was soon paired up with Lindey McMeans.
His sister, Meghan, a recent graduate of Upper Arlington High School, joined the program as well in her junior year, thanks to a freshman who wanted to start a chapter at the high school after being in it at Hastings. Meghan was paired up with Max Arnett.
Meghan says even though she’s known Arnett since elementary school, they’ve always had different classes. Even though the elementary and middle schools seem to have more interaction between different groups through activities like recess, everyone inevitably forms their own group of friends in high school. Best Buddies finally gives them a way to set aside time to hang out.
“Being able to have a set space in the school to talk to (Max) and to talk to people that are different than me, I think is really important, just with that increased visibility,” Meghan says.
Friendships are a crucial part of life, especially for kids, she adds. The Best Buddies chapter at UAHS came into her life just as the pandemic was surging, so there was worry the program would come to a halt. However, it didn’t slow down at all.
Charles-Beery says Aidan and McMeans took walks in the park during quarantine, and McMeans uses email to reach out and communicate with her buddy, among other activities. McMeans is doing everything she can to ensure Aidan feels included, even from a COVID-19-safe distance.
Meghan has watched her life change through this program, and she says she owes that to Aidan. Growing up, Meghan says, she was worried about her brother forming friendships. She feels less of a strain knowing how well he and McMeans get along.
Charles-Beery says she feels the same. She says Aidan has had two buddies while at Hastings, and they’ve both been incredible. It warms her heart to see students making an effort to be friends with people who are different than they are.
“Who would have known that middle school students would have such an insight into what someone like Aidan would need in a friendship?” Charles-Beery says. “They push him when he needs to be pushed, and they back off when (he) need(s) them to back off. Not that my faith in humanity ever went away, but it just completely restores your optimism in the next generation.”
Charles-Beery family: Tina, left, Aidan, Paul and Meghan
There is an annual Friendship Walk to fundraise and gain support for Best Buddies programs nationwide. This year’s walk, which took place in May, was virtual, but raised more than $58,000 just in Ohio. The whole Beery family participated, and their love for the program grew even more. They hope the walk helps spread awareness so that other families can find the program and fall in love with it, too.
Charles-Beery says she was admittedly a little apprehensive at first to join the Best Buddies program as any parent is with trying something new. After experiencing it through her own kids, though, she knows it’s been nothing short of amazing, and she says it’s one of the best decisions she’s ever made. For parents, it’s “worth taking that step out of your comfort zone,” Charles-Beery says.
Meghan encourages all students to join the Best Buddies program to gain not only a friend for life, but personal development of your own.
“It’s an amazing experience,” she says. “I think anything that broadens your worldview and helps you to have empathy for other people is always a good choice.”
Bre Offenberger is an editorial assistant. Feedback is welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
