As a spin-off from SCA’s Leadership Workshop, ‘Buddies Helping Buddies Leadership Workshop’ is a different type of leadership workshop that is specifically for special education students.

The school’s Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow (VTfT) and Intellectual Disability (ID) programs will host its first ever Buddies Helping Buddies Leadership Workshop on Saturday, March 2, from 9 am to 1 pm.

The workshop’s purpose is to house at least 40 ID students from various high schools in Virginia Beach, with disabilities ranging from Down syndrome to autism, while a group of 35 CHS delegates lead them through various game and leadership activities to provide for a fun and safe learning experience.

In anticipation of the event, the workshop staff will hold a Cash-o-la event at Shorebreak Pizza, on Shore Drive, this Wednesday, Feb. 20, from 4-10 p.m. A portion of the restaurant’s proceeds will go to the workshop’s materials.

VTfT student junior Kaitlyn Piston has taken over the lead role for the workshop, documenting the entire project from start to finish. Piston then plans to use her Buddies Helping Buddies project at the VTfT State Leadership Conference later in March.

“I have been to countless leadership workshops where special education students were a minority and I think they deserve to get this opportunity,” Piston said.