PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Huddled around a table in a classroom, Caleb Butler and his Best Buddies friends are creating a poster.
Ever since he's been a little kid, the quarterback for the Dr. Joaquin Garcia High School Bulldogs football team in western Lake Worth has been a mentor.
"I've been doing it when I was in elementary school. Then I brought it to my middle school. Then when I got here, I started to build it up more," Butler said.
Best Buddies is a non-profit organization dedicated to people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Garcia High School teacher Kayley Frobel said Butler is the perfect role model.
"It's awesome to have him with Best Buddies because it shows all of the students in the school that it's cool to be including and it's cool to be kind and accepting of all people," Frobel said. "So I think it makes a really big impact that he's our quarterback and he's caring for kids on our campus."
Butler is the starting quarterback for the Bulldogs. In his first season with the team, he's passed for more than 1,000 yards.
"I think my leadership has been more of a big impact," Butler said. "Cause my leadership can show them what we can do and what we're able to do."
What the team has been able to do is go from 1-9 in their first season last year to being one of the winningest teams in Palm Beach County this season.
"We weren't surprised. I know people in the county were definitely surprised. But we weren't surprised because every day we show up here, six in the morning, seven in the morning, busting our butt on this field," Butler said. "Blood, sweat, and tears on this field. So I know we weren't surprised. But I know other people were."
Butler said it's nice to be recognized for what he does on the football field. But he said the love and dedication he shows for his friends in Best Buddies is just as important.
"If a guy like me on the football team can show that I can do, that means everybody can do it," Butler said.
