‘IT’S JUST ABOUT FRIENDSHIPS’
Howard’s Guerke continues his work with Best Buddies club despite the pandemic
Tyler Guerke is quick to brag about his friends — especially Alec Behan.
His favorite thing about Behan is his passion for movies.
“He’s such a cool dude,” Tyler said. “He literally knows everything about every movie — the release date, the director, the actors. He’s incredibly smart.”
Tyler and Alec have been paired up in the Best Buddies club at Howard High School for the last four years. Tyler, a senior defender for the Lions’ boys lacrosse team, has embraced the role of student leader for the club that connects high schoolers with fellow students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to develop friendships.
Tyler’s friendship with Alec, who has autism, is one that might have started in the Best Buddies club, but has extended beyond the walls of the school.
“On paper, we’re ‘buddies,’ but we’re just truly good friends,” Tyler said. “That’s what the program is all about.”
‘Hard on everyone’
The coronavirus pandemic has been difficult for high school seniors. Tyler, for example, lost his final high school lacrosse season, the senior celebration ceremonies that occur in May and the last few weeks to spend time with friends in school before heading off to college.
However, Tyler said as challenging as this time is, it’s even harder for those with disabilities. That’s why Tyler, 18, and the other student leaders at Best Buddies have continued the club’s services virtually amid the pandemic. In addition to his normal duty of operating the club’s Instagram account, he’s been checking in with his fellow “peer buddies” to ensure they’re staying in contact with their “best buddies.”
“This is hard on everyone right now, but especially kids with special needs,” Tyler said. “It’s important for them to have that staple in their lives, so I’m making sure the peer buddies are doing that.”
The Best Buddies officers meet virtually once a week, while the club has hosted online meetings and trivia games as individual peers have also been encouraged to text and video chat their buddies in the club.
The two friends often texted and video chatted prior to the pandemic, but Alec, 20, said he’s especially enjoyed being able to talk with Tyler these last few months.
“We usually talk about many things in real life but also what new movies are coming out and the future of movies and TV shows,” Alec said.
“Tyler always includes him in everything,” said Alec’s mom, Susan. “Tyler invites him places, text messages him and FaceTimes him when Alec is having a bad day. He’s a good friend.”
‘He’s all in’
Tyler doesn’t remember exactly why he joined Best Buddies as a freshman. It’s just what the Guerkes do, he said.
His mom, Amy, is the principal at Ruth Parker Eason, a special education school in Anne Arundel County. His older sister, Madde, was a leader in the Best Buddies club and was Alec’s peer buddy before Tyler.
“It’s part of who we are,” Tyler said. “My mom didn’t tell us we had to do anything. It was the way we were raised, and I’m thankful for that.”
“As a parent, you’re proud when you have a child who is kind and treats other people with respect. You hope and pray for that to happen,” said Amy. “Tyler learns a lot from Alec, and that’s something a lot of people misunderstand. Tyler isn’t a part of Best Buddies because he thinks he has something to offer. It’s because they all have something to offer each other. Alec teaches Tyler all kinds of things, and not just Disney or his knowledge of movies, but how to be a better person and be kind.”
When Alec started at Howard in 2014,
Susan said she and Alec wanted him to be a part of Best Buddies to ease the transition from middle school to high school — a difficult switch for all students, but especially for those with disabilities. Susan said both Madde and Tyler have been great for her son, who graduated from Howard in 2019 but is permitted to remain a member of school system programs like Best Buddies until he turns 21.
This past academic year, Alec has been with Project Search, which provides job training for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. So far, he’s worked at the George Howard Building in Ellicott City and the Elkridge Branch of the Howard County Library System. Even with Alec not being in the school building every day, he and Tyler still find time to hang out with Alec’s favorites — movies and frozen yogurt.
“Tyler is super committed to it,” said Susan. “This is just my opinion, but some [students] go into it to just put it on their résumé. Then there are people like Tyler. … He is all in, and it makes such a difference.”
‘Positive persona’
Howard lacrosse coach Jimmy Creighton said the personality traits Tyler has gained from Best Buddies have helped him as a lacrosse player.
Similar to how being a genuine member of the Best Buddies club is about putting in work without needing recognition, Creighton said that “hard working” mentality is what he looks for in lacrosse players.
“He’s just one of those kids who every time you see him in the hallway, he’s got a big smile on his face. He has that positive persona, and he carries himself with a smile,” said Creighton, who teaches physical education at Howard and had Tyler in his strength and condition class this past year. “Doing these things in the school with Best Buddies, he does it without parading around about it. He does it because it’s something he likes to do and wants to do.”
Tyler spent two years on JV before moving up to varsity last season. He started the year on the bench but made his way into the starting lineup by the end of the regular season and played a role in the Lions’ postseason run to the Class 4A state championship game.
“He did a great job during that playoff run,” said Creighton, who has coached the Lions for 10 years. “He has a high IQ of the game. He was never one of those guys I had to worry about being prepared.”
Slated to start on the Lions’ defense this season, Tyler said what makes the cancellation of the season, which was announced on April 28, extra difficult is that the team was hoping to avenge its title loss last season and that he himself had rehabbed back from shoulder surgery to play his final season.
“I don’t think words can describe how disappointing it is,” Tyler said.
‘About friendships’
After Tyler graduates during Howard’s virtual commencement ceremony on June 9, he plans to attend James Madison University in the fall, majoring in intelligence analysis and joining the Army ROTC program.
“I’ve always wanted to serve my country,” he said. “Putting myself for a much bigger purpose has always been my calling.”
The Dukes don’t have an NCAA men’s lacrosse team, but Tyler plans to play for the club squad.
“I’m definitely bringing my gear,” he said. “I won’t let this spring be the end of playing lacrosse for me.”
With Tyler moving on to college and Alec aging out of the school system’s Best Buddies program, it will be the first time in about four years that the two friends won’t be linked by the club’s pairing. Instead, they’ll just be friends, which is what they’ve always been anyway.
“It’s amazing how much he knows and how much flavor he brings to life. That’s what I love about Alec,” Tyler said. “Best Buddies is more than pairing students with special needs and students without special needs. It’s just about friendships.”