Goal of Fitchburg State club is to make 'Falcon Friends' for life

By Anna Burgess, Sentinel & Enterprise

FITCHBURG, Mass. - For Max Schiavone, the Falcon Friends club is like school or football -- it's a priority.

The Fitchburg State University junior said visiting the friends he has made through the club, who are all young adults with some form of developmental disability, is "probably one of the best parts of my day."

"I can go there and be myself," Schiavone said. "It's not like going into school, going into the library, where people are judging you for what you're wearing. I'm not doing this to give myself a good name. I really like these guys. They're the most loving people I know."

Along with several other Fitchburg State students in the Falcon Friends club, Schiavone is spending this week bringing students from the McKay extended-education program for 18- to 22-year-olds to his college classes. It's the first time Falcon Friends has done this, and the first time the special-education students have been to a college.

"It's just one way to try and include our students in the university," Falcon Friends co-adviser Meryl Higgins said. "I think it's so important to provide them with life experience and help them make connections with their peers any way they can."

Edward Hirst, 21, visited Schiavone's class, while Otoniel Perez, 20, attended class with senior Nat Rojas.

Higgins was optimistic about doing the Falcon Friends classroom visits again, saying it has been "a big success" so far.

The Falcon Friends program, which is an official club at the university, pairs students in the McKay extended-education program with Fitchburg State students, like Schiavone, who are called their "Best Friends.

"The program is mostly unstructured, and the only requirement is that the college students meet up with their "Best Friend" at least once a week. They text, talk on the phone, go to movies, play sports on campus, and sometimes attend socials with the other "Best Friends."

"Anything that's building a friendship," Higgins said.

Higgins said Falcon Friends creates a positive impact for students with special needs by getting "more people to know them, see them and look beyond their disability to know them as a person."

Human-services professor Megan Krell, who was teaching the class Schiavone and Hirst attended Tuesday, said she is "more than happy to take this as a learning opportunity for everyone involved."

Krell's background is in disability studies, she said, so she always welcomes university partnerships related to that.

When the Falcon Friends were told they would have the opportunity to attend classes with their Fitchburg State "Best Friends," Hirst was excited.

"I thought it would be good to see what college classes are like," he said. "It's fun. It's different from being in my class that I'm usually in."

Perez also enjoyed his time in class, and said, "I would like to do it again."

Hirst said he would like to go to more classes, too, and if he were enrolled in college, he would study to be a baker or a preschool teacher.

Schiavone said participating in programs like Falcon Friends is "something I've found important in my life."

He has had friends with developmental disabilities since he was in elementary school, and when he came to Fitchburg State, he was told about Falcon Friends by his football teammate, Brendan Coan.

Schiavone joined the club last year, and he and Coan were both "Best Friends" with a student.

Coan graduated last year with a business degree, but Higgins said he's just one example of someone whose life has been changed by the Falcon Friends club.

The last time Higgins talked to Coan, he had decided to pursue a career related to special education and was teaching art to a girl with developmental disabilities. He also FaceTimes with Schiavone when Schiavone is with the Falcon Friends students, so he can say hello.

"This kind of group is a win-win," Higgins said. "My students certainly benefit, and I think the FSU students benefit, too. It can be life-changing for them."

For Schiavone, programs like Falcon Friends have "taught him about himself," and he has become a more open-minded, grateful person through Falcon Friends.

After Schiavone graduates from Fitchburg State, he plans to get his master's degree in special education and become a special-education teacher at an elementary school. 

"You're in these kids' lives for such a short amount of time," Schiavone said, "but they make such an impact."

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