High school is pretty much a breeding ground for stereotypes. The jocks and cheerleaders are big old meanies, the unpopular kids are weird, and everyone in between is pretty much invisible.
Middletown High School may have been susceptible to those old tropes, until an incredible program made sure teens saw each other for who they really were.
The program is called Circle of Friends and pairs students from different peer groups together so that they learn not to judge a book by its cover. Enter Claire, she was born with a genetic chromosomal disorder and is developmentally delayed.
She was paired off with Chip, a senior varsity soccer player. No one thought in a million years they would see these two high-fiving each other in the hallways, but that's exactly what happened.
Chip sees Claire as his little sister. So much so that Claire mustered up the courage to ask him to prom. Chip said yes and quickly realized what Claire means to him.
“I viewed the world so differently before I met Claire, and then after I met her, she just changed me a lot,” Chip told CBS. “I don’t think anyone has ever taught me more or impacted me more as much as Claire.”
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