The table is scattered with food and the smiles are contagious. This is the atmosphere in a tiny corner of Miami Palmetto Senior High’s cafeteria every first lunch on Tuesday and Thursday with the Panther Buddies. 

This is a new initiative created by Coach Anthony Fadelle in partnership with the National Honor Society. Students in NHS sign up to have lunch with those in the special education program.

“I do it because I enjoy being with them and making them feel like they are just like all of us because in reality they are and I feel like other people make them feel like they aren’t,” senior Sebastian Fonseca said. 

The conversations students have sound exactly the same as the ones in the courtyard and Pawvilion. There is drama, jokes and lots of laughter. 

“Emily makes me laugh and Elisa and Dylan and everyone in the whole school and Lizzie. And Sebastian too, he’s funny,” senior and student in the special education program Sofia Lia said.

They talk about anything and everything. Students share anecdotes from trips they have taken, talk about video games and sports and talk through relationship and friendship drama.

“They definitely have a lot of drama going on. The girls are always talking about the boys that they like… there was one time where I was instructed by one of their teachers to guide a positive interaction on how to fix a conflict of a breakup,” senior Anahi Lopez said.

Lopez and Fonseca try to attend Panther Buddies as often as they can, aiming for at least once a week. They have formed strong bonds with students in the special education program.

Lia’s and Lopez’s bond stuck out. Throughout lunches and seeing each other in the hallway during fifth period, they have become what Lia calls “besties.” Lia sees Lopez as someone who is sweet, kind and beautiful.

In addition to lunch, Panther Buddies has been organizing events during the day to form stronger bonds and life skills.

“My favorite was when we did the bracelet making. It was one of our first activities that we did with them not in the cafeteria, so it was more personalized. We were able to interact without loud voices in the cafeteria interrupting us. It was nice to see how they connected with people that were trying to help them and they were so thankful for having us guide them through making bracelets. [They] had a ton of bracelets on their arms by the end of the day,” Lopez said. 

Lopez hopes to continue to expand the program by getting more students involved and going on field trips. She hopes that, through these field trips, the students in the special education program will gain new life skills.

At Panther Buddies, there is no divide between the special education students and their buddies. Everyone feels included and they form friendships that can last a lifetime.

“They are just like us. They worry about their social lives, their grades and everything just like we do. So it’s not fair to treat them like they are any different and we should be more inclusive,” Fonseca said.

Perhaps the most important part of the program is the friendships created from it. It gives the special education students new faces to wave hello to in the hallways and new friends to sit with at lunch.

“The number [one] rule about friendship is trust because friendship always builds on trust… because friendship matters and family matters also,” senior and student in the special education program Elisa De Castro said.

 If you would like to sign up to attend a lunch, the sign-up sheet is posted on Mrs. Mallard’s door in the attendance office.