On Jan. 9, FASD administrators, school board members, teachers, students and parents plunged into the frigid Ohio River at the Bridgewater Marina at the fourth annual Beaver County Polar Plunge. Alongside 500 other participants, they ran into the cold river to raise money for Special Olympics Pennsylvania.

Special Olympics Pennsylvania is a program that organizes free sports training and competitions for the 20,000 participants in the state with intellectual disabilities. According to its website, Beaver County currently has 588 athletes and 41 volunteers in the Special Olympics.

Freedom’s team, the Freedom Polar Dawgs, included Team Captain, Superintendent Jeffrey Fuller; school board member Dawn Greene; Freedom Elementary teachers Karen Suhayda and Gena Tokar; Athletic Trainer Jackie Crytzer; FASD Psychologist Joe Testa and community members Jenn Slavinsky, Kim Aland, Julia Benson, Sherry Slipko, Stacie Scheel, Kim Frollini, Jessi Drutarosky and Wendy Kline. Community member Mary White and Director of Curriculum and Instruction Misty Slavic were also team members, but didn’t participate in the plunge.

Before the plunge, participants and spectators gathered by the Bridgewater Marina for the Opening Ceremony and announcements. Following the playing of the National Anthem, a Beaver County Special Olympics athlete read the Athlete Oath.

“Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt,” the Special Olympics’ Athlete Oath stated.
Other Opening Ceremony events included cheerleading from New Horizon School students, the showing of a slideshow with “thank you” messages and the announcement of top teams within each fundraising category.
Freedom’s team was the second-to-last team to plunge. According to many of the plungers, the plunge was not as cold as previous years. In fact, many plungers didn’t need to run immediately to the changing tent after going into the river.

“[The plunge] was not as bad as last year,” Benson said.

Freedom Polar Dawgs raised $2,279.25 out of their $5,000 online goal. Throughout the three years Freedom participated in the event, the team raised over $12,000 for the Special Olympics.

Freshman Jenna Engel and Sophomore David McKenna also participated in the Plunge, but on different teams. Engel’s team, Team FOP, raised the most money in the “Battle of the Badges” category.

All 38 teams raised over $85,000 at the 2016 Polar Plunge. To date, the Beaver County event raised over $250,000 for Special Olympics Pennsylvania.