By Abby McGinn

Last month, WHS seniors Deirdre Pedersen and Rina Gebhardt had the experience of a lifetime: they were invited to attend a throwing clinic hosted by New England Patriot’s quarterback Tom Brady.

The event was an auction item in the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation’s Annual Premiere. This item was purchased by Alex and Ani, a jewelry and retail company. Alex and Ani then donated this package to the Best Buddies Foundation, which decided to honor some of their strongest Buddy pairs in New England.

Best Buddies is a foundation focused on one-on-one friendships, leadership and inclusion for students with intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD). There are Best Buddies chapters spread across the nation. Chapters host events to bond with students with IDD and develop friendships.

Pedersen and Gebhardt, who have been paired as buddies together for the past two years, were one of seven pairs of buddies in New England selected to take part in this event in recognition for their outstanding friendship.

Pedersen, the Vice President of the Best Buddies chapter here at WHS, has been dedicated to the club for the past four years. Her interest in the organization was inspired by her younger brother Aidan, who is on the autism spectrum. Because of this, she wanted to spread awareness of the importance of friendships with people with differences.

“I knew [Deirdre] back in Mill Pond and she was really nice and helped me,” Gebhardt says explaining their friendship. When Gebhardt moved back to Westborough from Wyoming a few years ago, she and Pedersen were matched as buddies.

These two students make an exceptional pair. They try to make plans to hang out as often as possible. “A good pair means that they find strong connections which you can do through finding shared interests.” Pedersen explains.

“We hang out a lot, go to the movies, sing karaoke, and I watch her sing at the nursing home,” Gebhardt adds.  

Because of their close friendship, Pedersen and Gebhardt were nominated by the Best Buddies program manager Heidi Kalinowski to submit a video talking about their relationship, which then considered them to take part in Tom Brady’s throwing clinic.

“[Our friendship] means so much to me because we bring out the best in each other and have so much fun together. It is a genuine, true friendship. We are a very big part of each other’s lives. We talk all the time and are always making plans for our next fun thing together,” Pedersen explains, “I can’t imagine my life without Rina.”

During the event, the buddies went on the Patriots practice field as Brady taught them throwing and catching techniques. Along with learning these skills, the buddies also were able to talk to Brady, take pictures, wear personalized jerseys, and even got their names plated in the away team locker room. “It was great to meet Best Buddies [members] and play football with Tom,” Gebhardt comments. “I was a little nervous playing with Tom. He was very nice and gave us high fives. It was fun.”

The event would not be complete without playing football with Tom Brady. “We got to talk to him. He was very nice and easy to talk with,” Pedersen remembers. “We talked about where we were from and about Rina and my friendship. Also a little bit about the football game.”

This event is definitely something neither of the girls will forget. “I am a huge fan of the Patriots, so it was amazing to meet Tom Brady.” Pedersen says, “What made it more special about the day was that Rina and I got to share a memory that we’ll always have.”