By Abby Williamson – Staff Reporter

One club can make you friends forever.

Jonathan Law’s Friends Forever Club will hold its first meeting on Tuesday. October 20. Friends Forever is a club where Jonathan Law peers have the opportunity to interact with kids with special needs to form friendships outside of the classroom and their regular friend group.

Club members are matched up one-to-one by club officers based on personal interests with hope to create bonds that last past high school.

“(Friends Forever) gives you the experience of seeing how you can make a difference in someone’s life,” junior and Friends Forever Co-President Leea Palmer said.

Friends Forever meets after school for one hour every month. The club allows the kids who participate to practice important skills like interacting socially with people while enjoying each others company.

“It’s one Tuesday out of the month that could make a difference in someone’s life,” Palmer said. “Seeing that I’m making a difference in these kid’s lives makes me feel good about myself.”

During the hour kids and peers participate in hands-on arts and crafts while eating snacks and bonding with all of the other friends in the club.

The club officers plan out specifically themed meetings based on the month. In the past, they have had Halloween parties for the month of October and celebrated being thankful for the month of November.

“I’d love to join (Friends Forever),” junior club member Brianna Arnold said. “I want to go into speech pathology so joining the club would be good experience.”

Although Friends Forever forever offers a fun time, it also could look good on college applications if you would like to pursue a career in special education.

“It’s nice to hang out with my friends,” sophomore and club member Atul Joseph said.

Sometimes the club does ‘outings’ and takes trips to places like the movie theater, the Shelton Sports Center, and the senior center for Christmas caroling.

“I’m just looking forward to seeing my kids smile and seeing a bunch of friendships made that can last past high school and into life,” club advisor Mr. Winebrenner said.

Friends Forever is a fun environment to be surrounded by amazing kids eager to build new relationships.

“I just love being around them,” junior and Co-President Sydney King said. “It’s a judge free zone.”

Unlike nationwide clubs like Key Club, Friends Forever originated at Jonathan Law.

“The club was designed for my kids to make friends for life,” Winebrenner said.