By ABBY WILLIAMS
Sheridan H.S. Human Resources Teacher
Each year in early spring, on what always feels like a frigid day, Sheridan High School students and staff participate in the annual Polar Plunge at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis. This is an event created and organized by Special Olympics Indiana during which people raise money for that great cause and then jump into a freezing body of water.
This year’s high-school-specific event will take place on Friday, March 1, and Sheridan’s team is working hard to be ready. As of press time, we have 53 members on our team and have raised $2,731 with a goal of $5,000.
I’ve written about this event many times because it’s one of my favorite things I do as a teacher. The kids love it, we raise money for an awesome cause, it’s a very inclusive event, and we get to be outside, and I’ve described all of that here before.
What I haven’t written about in the past is the pure, wild fun of it, what some would refer to as “type II fun.” Type II fun is the kind of fun that’s not really all that fun in the moment, but when you look back on it, it seems like it was indeed fun after all. My personal go-to’s for type II fun include marathons, strenuous workouts, very long, hot hikes, and participating in Polar Plunge.
Type II fun has a way of making you forget just how miserable the event was. In the case of Polar Plunge, we get to Eagle Creek Park in the morning, stand around in wind, cold, and snow in swim attire with coats and blankets bundled on top, shout some cheers with the other schools, and then line up to jump into a lake. After high fiving the first responders standing in the lake for our safety, we run back out of the water, grab our towels and dry clothes, and then change into said dry clothes in a crowded, wet, cold concrete locker room.
These are not “fun” things to experience in a traditional sense. Nevertheless, after we are warm and dry, we load back onto the buses and head to lunch, which truly turns into a celebration of what was accomplished, how much money and awareness we raised, and HOW MUCH FUN WE HAD.
So, here we are again, students and staff, with memories of how cold and miserable the event was last year, and yet so looking forward to another plunge on March 1. If you would like to learn more or support Sheridan High School’s team, you can visit our team page at tinyurl.com/SHSpolarplunge2024.