FRISCO, TX – Awarded North Texas Rookie Chapter of the Year 2023-2024 by Best Buddies International, Centennial High School Best Buddies has officially kicked off for the 2024-2025 school year and is looking forward to an exciting new year!

Best Buddies is the world’s largest organization dedicated to providing support to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The organization assists those with IDD with securing jobs and leadership opportunities, building meaningful friendships, and more. 

“My goal for this year and my purpose for starting Best Buddies was to make a difference in the lives of IDD students,” said Boston Cross, the Centennial chapter’s founding president. “I’d seen bullying or discrimination towards IDD students and I just want to be able to change that and make a difference in their lives.”

Students involved in the Centennial chapter meet monthly after for chapter meetings as well as meeting with their buddy during Friday advisory and events throughout the year. Those chosen to be a part of the program will be directly paired with a buddy to foster meaningful friendships.

The chapter’s first meeting of the year was held Thursday, Sept. 12th, where they introduced the club, discussed changes and expectations, provided dates for upcoming events, and even made time for a friendly paper airplane competition. 

“Our chapter works to host events year-round to make sure that there are opportunities for friendships to form between buddy pairs,” said Best Buddies officer Abby Haydon “We are also having more outside of school events to really develop closer friendships.”

To keep up with Centennial Best Buddies and the events that will be hosted throughout the year, follow @bestbuddiecentennial on Instagram!