“For everyone to get along, to be nice and to accept others”. That is what freshman Noah Dennis had in mind when he created the Accepting Differences Team in honor of his younger sister Abbie, who has Down syndrome. The club had its first school meeting on Sep. 25.

“My sister makes friends well, but I noticed that others like her do not,” said Dennis. “We decided to join an organization to help that.”

Dennis and his friend, freshman Josh Upp, originally started the club at Canyon Ridge Middle School in the sixth grade. Dennis started the club to bring awareness to kids who have disabilities like Abbie. Since then the club has grown, and when Dennis and Upp left Canyon Ridge last year, Upp’s younger brother, Christopher, took over the club.

“It took a long time to get the club running, almost the entire second semester,” Upp said.

The club’s goal for the year is to acquire more members. The founders are eager to get people involved and build a foundation. Meetings are held Fridays during PIT in club sponsor Tina McCosky’s room.

“Our goal is to create an atmosphere where everyone can feel accepted and included,” Dennis said.