The spirit of giving and community service shone brightly on Dec. 11 as students and staff from four local schools gathered for the 30th Annual Gove Buddy Christmas Party, held at Gove Elementary in Belle Glade!

The Gove Buddy Christmas Party, an annual tradition running since the 1990s, celebrated its three-decade anniversary this year! The event focuses on pairing high school students, primarily from Glades Day School, Pahokee Middle Senior High School, and Glades Central Community High School, with special needs students from Gove Elementary School.

Participating high school students receive a Christmas Wish List from their designated “buddy,” purchased and wrap gifts, and then meet their buddy at Gove Elementary. The students spent several hours together in a decorated, Christmas-themed play area (this year’s theme being “The Grinch”) sharing gifts, playing, and enjoying various holiday snacks and drinks. The event represents a major collaborative effort across the four schools to create a truly special day for Gove students!

A Legacy of Service and Empathy

The event was co-founded in 1996 by GDS teacher Angee Lohmann and her sister, Jayna Smith, an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher at Gove Elementary and Dwyer Award Recipient. In a happy coincidence, the party was held on Jayna Smith’s birthday this year!

At Glades Day School, the participating students are members of the National Honor Society (NHS) and National Junior Honor Society (NJHS). This year’s group was chaperoned by co-founder Mrs. Lohmann and teacher Shelli Burch, both of whom have participated in the event for decades.

Mrs. Burch reflected on the impact the event has on the high school participants: “I think it teaches them (the students) empathy. I think it teaches them how to work with students with disabilities.” She also noted that this year was the event’s largest group ever, with a little over 100 students with disabilities present.

“It spreads Christmas cheer through all of those who participate in it,” said Mrs. Burch. She added that the core of the NHS/NJHS, Scholarship, service, leadership and character, which the event certainly embodies.

As you might expect from an event that has existed for 30 years, there have been many changes and evolutions over the years.

When it first started, it was only Glades Day School who would do the Gove Buddies event, but now it usually includes three schools (four if you include Gove Elementary).

Initially, the first year the event was held, our students collected presents and would drop them off at Gove Elementary. But it was soon after that, Lohmann and Smith began to feel that the event could be more. “Wouldn’t it be fun if my kids delivered them to your kids. Let’s make it fun and deliver the presents to the students,” said Mrs. Lohmann. They then began the process of pairing the students up with Gove and the high school kids. Wish lists were added for the students, and the event has become more organized over the years. Now, the Gove Elementary students even make a goody bag or draw a picture for the high school students’ they are paired with, and there is an exchange of gifts. Sometimes the parents write thank you notes to the students, Mrs. Lohmann added. Since the initial event, they’ve added DJs, snacks, and drinks, further adding to the Christmas cheer.

As the annual party evolved, the Gove Buddy program became increasingly more personal, as the high school students began to meet their buddy/child directly. “If you’re going to do something good, it’s good to know for who,” said Lohmann, illustrating how seeing the joy of a good deed makes it that much more fulfilling for our students.

Mrs. Lohmann, who found herself getting emotional speaking about the event, shared an emotional perspective on the event: “For 20 years I would cry (while attending the event) because you can’t get any more of a Christmasy event than that.” She added that some of the Gove kids don’t get anything for Christmas and are as underprivileged as they come, both in their physical disability but also economically. “Parents must love seeing that their kids come home with toys. Our kids don’t realize the impact they are having on those children,” she said.

The event’s festive atmosphere is also enhanced by community members Karen and Marc Schultz (both of whom had children at GDS), who have attended for many years dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Claus when they do. Both have a background in education and worked at Glades Central for a long time. Given this year’s “Grinch” theme, the Grinch also made an appearance!

“I’ve had kids/students go into special education directly because of that event (Gove Buddies),” said Mrs. Lohmann, highlighting its powerful influence on career choices. In summary, she added, “It makes you appreciate what you have. A lot of our students are so entitled so they don’t have the opportunity to feel that.”

The long-term impact of the program was echoed by former participants:

Alliegh Reitz (formerly Schlecter), former student: “Being part of this program as a child taught me gratitude for my health and the things I had. It was humbling, eye-opening, and helped shape my perspective at a young age.”

Kennedy DesRochers, Current Kindergarten Teacher and former GDS student: “Participating in the Gove Buddy Christmas program through National Honor Society was such a meaningful experience for me. Being able to deliver gifts, spend time with the students, celebrate with snacks and Santa, and just play and connect with them really showed me how important inclusion and kindness are. It had a lasting impact on me and helped shape the way I approach service, my job as a teacher, relationships, and giving back to my community.”

Andrea Landing, Current Staff and former GDS student: “As a student, Gove Buddies taught me how meaningful it is to make someone feel seen and celebrated, and how giving can be even more special than receiving. Now, as a counselor, it’s incredibly special to watch our students carry on that same spirit of kindness.”

Here’s to another 30 years of joy, laughter, and inspiration!