Class of 2025 salutatorian Brycen Williams, left, and valedictorian Cooper Chambers will address their fellow classmates at the Farmersville High School graduation ceremony Tuesday, May 20.

An academic year filled with challenges— and a shared commitment to “passing all our classes” paid off for two Farmersville High School graduates.

Their goal coming into senior year was simple: sit next each other during commencement. Cooper Chambers and Brycen Williams can now declare “mission accomplished” as they finished first and second, respectively, in the Fightin’ Farmers’ Class of 2025.

Cooper, this year’s valedictorian, finished with a 4.46 grade point average. Brycen, the salutatorian, finished with a 4.31.

Although Cooper’s GPA was higher, he noted the difference “could have been a whole lot closer” had Brycen been able to score a bit higher in a couple of senior year classes.

Cooper is one of seven children of David and Tracy Chambers. He plans to attend the University of Texas at Dallas in the fall majoring in 3-D modeling and animation. He’ll live with his sister Casey and her husband. Cooper’s brothers are David, Zac, Christian, James and Travis.

“We’ve known each other since kindergarten,” Cooper said of his longtime friendship with Brycen. As for his major, Cooper said, “I really like video games” and said the field aligns well with his interests.

In addition to his high school diploma, Cooper will graduate with an associate degree in general studies from Collin College.

“So, I’ll have a year of college under my belt when I enroll at UT-Dallas,” he said.

Despite their final rankings, Cooper said the competition was never intentional.

“Honestly, we didn’t know we were competing,” he said. Brycen started senior year ranked fourth, but “he was able to work his way up to No. 2.”

Cooper said he considers it “an honor to be ranked at the top of my class, given the quality of the students who are graduating this year.”

Brycen plans to attend the University of Texas-Tyler, where he will major in music education. His goal is to become a band director. His parents are Donny and Mitzi Williams, and he has two brothers, Austin and Nicholas. Brycen said he expects to complete his associate degree at Collin College by the end of summer.

He described his academic rise during senior year as an unexpected bonus.  Entering the year ranked fourth — the same as his brother Austin when he graduated in 2016 — Brycen said his initial goal was simply to match that.

 “That was my goal, to be honest,” he said. “Then I got to No. 3 and realized, ‘Hey, I could finish No. 2 and be able to sit next to Cooper at graduation.”

Brycen plays multiple instruments, including various clarinets, saxophones, piano and percussion instruments such as bass and snare drums. Brycen said the only wind instrument he cannot play is the oboe.

Both graduates earned academic scholarships to help cover college expenses.

“Finishing No. 2 was a benefit that came along just with passing all my classes,” Brycen said.

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