There will be a new program at Lakes called the Lancer Lunch Buddies! The program will entail eating with the Life Skills students at lunch on Tuesdays as well as playing games and overall, just having a good time. The person who inspired this is Chase Washington the junior class president here at Lakes. I asked him why he started this program. Chase said “I came up with the Lancer Lunch Buddy program with the goal of building bonds with the students in the special education program with the rest of the student body. When my sister was in high school, she had a disability which gave her a hard time making friends and she felt isolated at times because people would always judge her before even getting to know her. So, this program is aimed at avoiding that here at Lakes and instead focusing on making a more connected student body”. He then said “The program will take place every other Tuesday at Lunch. We will have students in the cafeteria or come into the classroom to have lunch together. Each Lunch Buddy will be paired with a student where they will eat, talk, and play games”. He then told me about his plans for the program “I hope that this program will grow once we have a solid foundation. I hope to continue this while I am still at Lakes and before I graduate find someone or a group of students who can carry on the Lancer Lunch Buddy Program”. Lastly, I asked him who was involved “Currently the program is only open to mentors, but I am planning to open it up to the student body in time. It is only open to mentors currently since they have leadership experience, and they can help get the program started”. This program will be a great addition to lakes and better the student culture at our school.