Shout Inc

The mission of Sammy’s Buddy Program is to normalize difference, encourage inclusion and build understanding around the challenges experienced by students with different abilities while developing student leaders within the community.

Sammy’s Buddy Program pairs peers with and without disabilities in schools to create authentic
learning experiences that promote understanding, inclusion and leadership for students with all
abilities. We accomplish our mission by implementing, with the help of school staff and
administrators, the following four initiatives:

Monthly Buddy Activities
Each month, students come together to do an activity (tailored to student and school needs) which
might include “get-to-know-you” games, a fall nature outing and craft, terrarium making,
gingerbread house decorating, adaptive sports, culminating with a buddy olympics in the spring.
These activities promote understanding and build friendship between the students.

The Kindness Campaign
In 2020 we launched our first school-wide Kindness Campaigns with the goal of promoting
kindness and inclusion in an active, impactful way. Students kickoff the campaign by making a
pledge to focus on kindness and inclusion and participate in lessons and activities that promote
engagement in real-world settings. Over several weeks students watch for others’ acts of kindness
and nominate peers for recognition and awards. The Kindness Campaigns help transform
classrooms and playgrounds into places of safety, encouragement, advocacy, and inclusion.

Leadership Workshop
Students participate in interactive, skills-based lessons on leadership as well as an annual
leadership summit where they can use their voices, experience and newly-developed leadership
skills to create new, impactful programs within their own schools and communities. Additionally,
we provide service leadership opportunities for high school students who volunteer within the
program. Building kind, inclusive leaders is our goal.

Inclusion Library
In 2021, Sammy’s Buddy Program began a new initiative, “inclusion libraries.” We provide a set of
20+ books for each participating classroom and school library representing authors or principal
characters with different abilities. Encouraging variety in how these books are used, we work with
teachers and school librarians to encourage classroom read-aloud, books clubs, and also provide
reading and discussion guides for some of the books in the library. Interested staff can also apply to
have donated a classroom set of one book and included curriculum that aligns with the common
core standards for literacy. Additionally, we host presentations by authors, activists, students, or
leaders within the disability community to share their life experiences as they encourage students
to speak up and speak out for inclusion and equality.