Witches, ghosts and the “Cupid Shuffle” turned the CCHS cafeteria into a nightmare to remember. The fourth annual Best Buddies Halloween Spooktacular was hosted by the club Best Buddies on October 25. Students, parents and friends of all ages dressed up in their best costumes and spent the haunted night eating, dancing and spending their time partying together.
The Best Buddies Halloween Spooktacular is an opportunity for members of the community with and without disabilities to have a good time. But this party isn’t just for CCHS– the Halloween Spooktacular was open to all schools in Broward County. With a simple sign-in process and a $5 admission fee, attendees received pizza, pasta and piles of candy on each table.
Laughter was heard instantly with one’s first steps into the party, and the photo booth line was all the way to the entrance door. The dance floor was filled once the DJ started to play hit songs, glow sticks lighting up the night.
“I guess the main reason why I wanted to be the sponsor [of] this [is that] the results are always worth it, seeing everyone having fun like this,” Best Buddies sponsor Nicole Hicks said.
The CCHS cafeteria, inside and out, was transformed into a scary scene with decorations that were “to die for.” Skeleton and vampire animatronics took the place of the typical lunch lines full of hungry students. Each table housed a decorative witch centerpiece handmade by Nicole Garcia, the Best Buddies co-sponsor.
“The results are always worth it, seeing everyone having fun like this.”
Best Buddies, the host of this Spooktacular, is a prominent club at CCHS. The organization seeks to facilitate one-to-one friendships between students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
But this club isn’t exclusive to CCHS. In fact, Best Buddies is an international organization. CCHS hosts one chapter of the 2,500 that exist worldwide. This makes Best Buddies the world’s largest organization with the goal to end the physical and social isolation of individuals with IDD.
Best Buddies accomplishes this by hosting events such as friendship walks, cycling meets, galas and food and wine festivals. CCHS Best Buddies approach their goals similarly to the national organization, but with an added Cowboy touch.
Sponsors Nicole Garcia and Nicole Hicks along with Best Buddies officers have been planning this eerie event since the summer, making this Halloween party the biggest activity Best Buddies plans for the year, compared to the other activities they put on monthly.
“Mrs. Hicks and Mrs. Garcia were a huge help to us with planning and making this party happen,” Best Buddies Treasurer Kaylynn Nguyen said.
This Best Buddies annual Halloween Spooktacular is one step further into the club’s mission and the Best Buddies objective overall. Not only were friendships strengthened and new bonds made, but all attendees could look back on the night as a nightmare to remember.
Photo by Carly Cuoco
