Students and staff from Hazelwood Central and Hazelwood West high schools are gearing up for Polar Plunge 2012 at Creve Coeur Lake in Maryland Heights.
On Saturday, February 25, students and staff from both schools, as well as other area schools, will run, jump and splash themselves into the lake in support of Special Olympics of Missouri (SOMO). The organization is the official charity of student councils in the state. Teams raise money for the organization by accepting pledges and donations for the challenge of jumping into a lake on a cold winter day.
Hazelwood Central High School has 10 students and staff ready to participate. The team’s fundraising goal is $1,000. Donations for the team can be made online at www.somo.org/hchshawks
Hazelwood West High School has 55 students and 11 staff members who will take the plunge. The team’s fundraising goal is $10,540. To date, $4,815 has been raised. To donate, go to www.somo.org/plunge, click the Search tab, select Maryland Heights as the location and type Hazelwood West in the search bar.
Vicki Schaeffer, science teacher and Student Council co-sponsor at HWHS, said the Polar Plunge is the “first event of the year that kicks off awareness for the Spread the Word campaign sponsored by Special Olympics of Missouri.”
Spread the Word is an initiative to ban the use of the word ‘retarded.’ HWHS will host a Spread the Word Awareness Day on March 7.
In the spring, each high school in the District hosts a Special Olympics event.
HCHS will host its annual Special Olympics Swim Meet on April 11.
HWHS will host a Special Olympics Unified Track and Field Meet on April 20.
Hazelwood East High School will host its Special Olympics Track Meet for elementary children on May 4.