On Tuesday, Oct. 29, Best Buddies and National Honors Society held their first ever Spooky Buddies event at Huntley High School, which helped raise money for Best Buddies monthly programming and to potentially send buddies to next years Best Buddies Leadership Conference. 

Best Buddies promotes inclusion throughout HHS between students with intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD) and general education students. The program also promotes one-on-one friendships, whereas NHS is an organization established to honor exceptional students. The two clubs decided to come together and host an event that would bring the community together. 

“The event was a family friendly trick or treat bash with lots of fun activities,” Zoe Ratner, senior and member of Best Buddies said. 

The fundraising event was fun and entertaining for the families and students that attended. Throughout the school there were games, such as pin the spider on the web, and trick or treating throughout both upper and lower levels of the high school. Members of school clubs and sports volunteered their time to host each game, and decorate classrooms for trick or treating. 

Children of all ages dressed up in their Halloween costumes, and the first 500 people in the door received a free trick or treating bag. Entry was $2 for each child, and roughly 600 people attended the event. 

“The turnout was much more than we expected,” Ratner said. 

Members of Best Buddies and NHS began setting up right after school. At 5 p.m the doors opened, and the event came to an end at 7 p.m. 

As the Halloween activities commenced, the community enjoyed the spooky atmosphere, as well as raising money for a worthy group within the high school. Both NHS and Best Buddies were stunned by how much support and recognition the event received. Best Buddies and NHS intend to make this an annual tradition.