By Holly Heller Enquirer Editor
    BREMEN — For the second year at Bremen High School, the National Honor Society’s Adopt-A-Friend program has successfully paired NHS students with special needs students, resulting in new friendships, good times and valuable life lessons learned.
    “Coming into the experience, I thought I would be doing all the teaching and Arlin [Miller] would be doing the learning, but I learned that they are just as capable of teaching us valuable lessons as we are,” said NHS member Mitch Huber.
    Melissa Manges, program coordinator and BHS counselor, couldn’t agree more.
    “I know that the NHS students really enjoy working with the special needs students,” Manges said. “They form bonds with them and probably learn more from them than the special needs students learn from the NHS students.”
    She said the special needs students also benefit in many ways.

 “The main benefit to the special needs students is that they feel more connected to the student body and develop more friendships. They also have social skills modeled for them .”
    Throughout the school year, those participating in Adopt-A-Friend met weekly with their adopted friends. Many spent bonus period together on either Tuesdays and Thursdays, where they enjoyed reading together.
    “The NHS students also helped integrate the special needs students into some of our school activities like Lion Olympics,” Manges said.
    As an end-of-year celebration, the friends had lunch at Amish Acres in Nappanee and watched the play, “Nunsense,” at the Round Barn Theater. For many, this was a highlight of the program.
    “I had the most fun when we took a trip to Amish Acres,” said NHS member Beth Hochstetler. “Spending an entire afternoon with the special education students was a blast.”
    NHS member Dan Schramm agreed.
    “I loved eating at the restaurant with Arlin and the other kids.”
    Schramm learned a great deal from his experience in the Adopt-A-Friend program.
    “It taught me that hanging out with the special ed kids can be a lot of fun. People should just give them a chance,” he said. “I learned that people can be happy no matter what circumstances they have.”
    The experience actually helped Hochstetler decide on a future career.
    “Many times I take for granted everything good in m life, and I forget that not everyone has the same opportunities as me. Since helping with the special education students, I have learned many things about the students. Because of this, I now am planning to go to college to be a special education teacher.”
    All the participants gained something from taking part in the program — most importantly, friends.
    “Each of the students is now one of my good friends that I enjoy spending time with,” Huber said.