What’s loyal, trustworthy and helps you relax after a tough day at school? Is it a dog or cat? A family member? For two teachers here at Freedom Area High School, the answer is their best friend. Mrs. Porter and Mrs. Niedbala have been best friends for over six years now. Their friendship blossomed when they were both hired in 2005. “We didn’t know each other before we came to Freedom,” Mrs. Porter said. “It was an instant click.” Before being hired, Mrs. Niedbala graduated from Freedom Area High School, went to Slippery Rock University and could be seen working in the team teaching room at Freedom a year before. Mrs. Porter graduated from Hopewell High School and attended Dickinson College for law. After working at a law firm, she enrolled at Robert Morris University to get her teaching degree. During their first year teaching at Freedom, they experienced the hardship of teaching, side by side. “Your first day teaching is unforgettable and your first year really,” Mrs. Niedbala said. “There were days where we would just stay after and laugh or cry about what happened that day in our rooms.” Teaching the same group of kids, Mrs. Porter and Mrs. Niedbala love that they can collaborate with one another to help their students; they refer to themselves as partners in crime that help kick the freshmen into shape. Teaching isn’t the only thing Mrs. Niedbala and Mrs. Porter have in common. They both are class sponsors, Mrs. Niedbala sponsoring the freshmen class and Mrs. Porter sponsoring the senior class. The best friends also experienced the pleasures and difficulties of coaching sports teams at Freedom. Mrs. Porter and Mrs. Niedbala have gone through each other’s ups and downs not only in their business worlds, but in their personal lives as well. During the school year, Mrs. Porter and Mrs. Niedbala mainly express their problems to each other through phone calls due to their busy schedules. “We’ve had minute long conversations to, like, 116 minute conversations,” Mrs. Porter said. However, when it’s time to break out the sun towel and beach ball, the two best friends spend a lot more time together. One time Mrs. Porter and Mrs. Niedbala were heading to a friend’s house “way out in the sticks” for a Beauty Control party. They got lost along the way and pulled over multiple times, hysterically laughing at their predicament. Both teachers thought they were in a horror movie where the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Even if they would have been in a horror movie, Mrs. Porter said she would “absolutely not” leave her best friend behind for who knows what to come and get her. After all they’ve been through in the last six years, one thing stands above all. These two best friends took part in each other’s weddings. Both stood beside one another while they experienced one of the most important steps in their life. Mrs. Niedbala and Mrs. Porter have been through big things together and shared lots of tears as they like to put it. However, having that best friend there through everything gave them the courage to face it all.