Photo Credit: Deer Park School District
This July, seven students – Alexis Borowski, Bailey Corcoran, Aubrey Goetz, Carysn Goetz, Chloe Luby, Sophia Paduano and Eve Valentine – in the Deer Park High School chapter of Best Buddies traveled to Indiana University Bloomington to attend the annual Best Buddies Leadership Conference. The event united Best Buddies leaders, volunteers and community advocates from around the globe to imagine, create, lead and empower the future of the disability rights and inclusion movement. The Deer Park students returned home with triumphant news that they had won the New York State Most Outstanding Chapter Award for 2025, a prestigious honor celebrating the dedication to inclusion and friendship for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The award was presented to Deer Park’s student representatives by Best Buddies founder Anthony Kennedy Shriver.
In addition to this statewide recognition, the Deer Park chapter was also honored at the Babylon Town Hall by Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer and Councilman Terence McSweeney for their outstanding efforts and impact within the community. A small group from Best Buddies attended the Town Hall ceremony to receive recognition for all of the effort the chapter puts into inclusion.
“We are forever grateful for the support that is shown for our chapter in the Deer Park School District and the Deer Park community,” Best Buddies co-advisers Joe Alo and Gabriella Gilmartin said. “It is this support and the number of dedicated students that we have the opportunity to work with each school year that truly makes this chapter incredible. We look forward to all of the great events and buddies we will make along the way to 2026 and beyond.”
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