INDIANAPOLIS — It takes a hearty soul to put on a swimsuit in the middle of the winter and jump into a freezing cold lake, yet a group of educators and students from Eastern Hancock High School signed up to do just that late last week.
Tracy Jadernak-Elsbury is the Essential Skills teacher for the Eastern Hancock middle and high schools. She and several members of their Something Outstanding About All Royals (SOAAR) program took part in the 25th Anniversary of Special Olympics Indiana’s signature fundraiser, the Polar Plunge, held at Eagle Creek Beach on Friday.
“I have to say it was a lot of fun,” Jadernak-Elsbury said.
She and five student mentors from the SOAAR program joined essential needs students and Eastern Hancock assistant principal Brian Bowen aspots they jumped into freezing cold Eagle Creek to help raise money and awareness for the Indiana Special Olympics. Plus, the plunge helped the Eastern Hancock SOAAR program earn enough money to get their Champions Together Banner, which advocates for unity in the classroom and school district.
“That banner is sponsored through Special Olympics, and a part of earning the banner is raising money and awareness,” Jadernak-Elsbury said. “We’ve done a lot of things this year, but the Polar Plunge for us was another good fundraiser.”
Eastern Hancock senior Luke Morris plans to one day be an essential skills teacher. He’s the president of the district’s SOAAR program and said he had a blast at the Polar Plunge, despite the chilly temperatures.
“I had never done anything like that before, but it was a lot of fun,” Luke said. “All the kids from the class were with us and they loved seeing us freezing our butts off.”
The Royals were one of the last schools to be called to jump into the water after the teams all lined up and waited for their school to be called to make the plunge.
“It seemed like we were standing out there, shirts off, for like a hour so when they did call us we were ready to go,” Luke said. “The water was super cold, so we got in, got it done and got out.”
Luke noted the discomfort was all worth it. He spends at least half of most school days inside the essential needs classroom helping the students there and knows just how special an event like the Polar Plunge was for the program.
“I’ve struggled some in class, so I know what it’s like to overcome,” Luke said. “I just love connecting with the kids and watching them when they learn something or figure something out.”
Brooklynn Headlee is a sophomore at Eastern Hancock and is the SOAAR vice president. She also signed up to do the Polar Plunge. However, she caught a bit of a break because one of the essential skills students wanted to plunge with her.
“When we started to get in, we got to about knee high when he turned to me and said that was ‘enough,’ and I needed to stay with him so we got out,” Brooklynn said with a laugh. “Heck, even that was so cold, but I was already freezing before we even got in.”
Brooklynn noted her mother is an instructional assistant for the essential skills classroom at Eastern Hancock, and that got her stopping by the classroom now and again. Before long, she too fell in love with working with the students and helping them connect.
“It all just really opened my eyes,” Brooklynn said. “Being around these kids just makes my day so much better.”
Brooklynn plans to go to college and become a sign language interpreter and have a career working with essential skills students.
“I want to be able to work one-on-one with the essential skills kids and help them to communicate with their teacher,” Brooklynn said.
The students at Eastern Hancock joined an estimated 400 other high school students from across the state at Eagle Creek Beach where temperatures hovered in the high 30s to low 40s as they jump into an even colder body of water.
“It was great for our kids to see all the other school districts and students who also support what we’re doing so they know they’re not the only ones doing this kind of work,” Jadernak-Elsbury said.
Jadernak-Elsbury noted it’s events like the Polar Plunge and programs like SOAAR that help create a more inclusive environment in school districts across the state.
“We want to provide our students with opportunities, something every student should have,” Jadernak-Elsbury said. “It’s all about getting the kids out into the environment more and creating a more inclusive environment for them.”
If that included jumping into a freezing cold Eagle Creek, so be it.
“I did jump,” Jadernak-Elsbury said with a laugh. “It’s a really great fundraiser — something very unique and different.”
Special Olympics raised more than $73,000 during the event.
