Cold Pool. Warm Hearts
Spring Lake Staff and Students Take the Plunge for Special Olympics!
On a chilly Tuesday morning in March, Spring Lake Public Schools hosted its first Polar Plunge event with the Special Olympics. The Polar Plunge was held in the Spring Lake Middle School parking lot, alongside the district office. Staff and students from all of our Spring Lake Schools were invited to participate in the Plunge.
I had the opportunity to connect with Spring Lake Public Schools' special education teacher, Ashley Reynolds, about the incredible work that she and speech pathologist Tanya Mey are doing with the Special Olympics.
In order to host a Polar Plunge at Spring Lake Schools, our Unified Champions Schools Liaison, Tanya Mey, had to send in an application to Michigan Special Olympics. Out of all the schools in Michigan who apply, only 12-14 schools get chosen each year to be a Cool School to host a Polar Plunge. The goal of a Cool School is to raise $10,000 for the Special Olympics.
We had 550 staff/students participate in the Cool School Polar Plunge. That is the most participation in Special Olympics Cool School history! As a school district, Spring Lake Public Schools raised $53,000 for the Special Olympics, also the most raised in Special Olympics Cool School history.
I asked Reynolds if the Polar Plunge is an event that we should expect to happen annually at SLPS. Ashley said, "Typically the Polar Plunge isn't an annual event, but I'm sure the Special Olympics of Michigan would love to come back, since our district had record breaking participation and money raised."
When I asked Ashley what her favorite memory from the Polar Plunge was, she said, "As a Special Olympics Unified coach, one of my favorite memories from the event was watching my athletes and their peers taking the plunge."
It was an incredible experience for plungers and spectators alike.
"Spring Lake Public Schools just became a Unified School last year, and since then we have made significant progress with whole school inclusion, participating in seasonal sports, and to already be chosen as a Cool School to host a Polar Plunge. We are doing some really exciting things here at SLPS. This is just the beginning!" Ashley stated.
Congratulations to SLPS for their record-breaking work on the Polar Plunge! We would also like to recognize all of the brave, hard-working students and staff for taking the plunge into the giant, cold pool. The Spring Lake community cannot wait to see what amazing things will happen with the Unified Sports/Special Olympics organization.