Our Lady of Perpetual Help School kindergarten and eighth grade students paired up again this year as part of the school's buddy program. The arrangement provides responsibility and leadership opportunities for the older students. Younger students get an eighth grade buddy to call their own for the whole school year. The program, in place for more than 17 years, often finds present-day mentors remembering their own kindergarten days. "The Lehigh Valley Zoo was fun," eighth grade student Ryan Irr says, recalling a field trip with his own buddy, Kimberly Edwards, of Bethlehem, now a college student. "She held my hand as we walked around, and I remember we both liked watching the wild birds."