Ava Muharem, Best Buddies president, works overtime to help Woodland’s Chapter reach its fullest potential. Whether this means staying after school for meetings, or spending her summer flying to Indiana for a conference, Muharem has elevated the program.

Muharem began in the Best Buddies program in 6th grade where she participated in Peer Buddies, a club at Long River Middle School. She stayed in the club all the way through middle school, then went on to join Best Buddies when she entered Woodland. She claimed the role as president her senior year.

Towards the end of her junior year, Muharem was informed of a conference that takes place at the University of Indiana. A few emails and permission slips later, Muharem was on the flight headed west.

“The opening ceremonies was one of the best parts of the conference, because it brought everyone together and got us excited to see what the next few days were going to be all about,” said Muharem.

Each day, Muharem and the participants of the conference woke up around seven o’clock in the morning, get breakfast at the university’s dining hall, and immediately got to work. Towards the end of the day, the participants would then take part in in fun group activities such as attend a basketball game or go to a dance party.

“We started the morning in the auditorium with motivational speakers, preparing us for the day of sessions that would soon follow,” Muharem recalls.

The members would participate in sessions that taught them how to become stronger leaders, how to improve their school’s chapters, how to include peers in different activities, and how to stick with their chapters even when circumstances got hard.

“While they taught me lots of valuable lessons, the most important takeaway from this conference was the importance of the Best Buddies program. Everything done in the club is impactful for people all over the world,” Said Muharem.

Upon arrival back to Connecticut, Muharem was prepared to apply all her new information to Woodland’s chapter of Best Buddies. She found that the biggest difference between Woodland’s chapter and those of other schools is Woodland’s attendance and participation is a lot less. This leads to Muharem’s biggest goal for this year, to engage those outside of the club to join in.

“My goal for this chapter is to boost our involvement and get more of the community in what we do,” said Muharem.

Muharem plans to execute her goal by hosting more meetings, ideally two a month. She would like to plan themes and events for each meeting, hoping to inhance the experience of those in the club while inviting people to join as well.

“This year we hope to advance our events further then we have in the past, hosting more field trips and activities to help grow our clubs popularity” said Muharem.

The future of Woodland’s Best Buddies chapter is bright, and its safe to say the community can look forward to what Muharem brings to the table.