Every year, MCHS’ Key Club helps out the Polar Plunge, an organization to help raise money for the Special Olympics. This year, it was held in Crystal Lake on March 5 at noon.

All Special Olympics athletes compete free of charge, which helps fund all of the activities throughout the year. The Key Club has had members participate in the plunge for about a decade now.  All plungers need to raise a minimum of $100 in order to participate. 

“It was a beautiful day actually,” sophomore Grace Hunt, who attended the plunge, said. “The sun was shining. It really felt like summer but the water was like 32 degrees. It was kind of nerve wracking, but it’s for a good cause!”

Emma Theel, Key Club advisor, mentions that the event ended up having 18 students plunging. And as of now, the team raised $3200, which is more than they raised last year.  

“Once we got up there we kind of just ran in the water,” Hunt said. “It was pretty slick and shallow, so I had to kind of dip down to get super wet. It happened so quickly that it wasn’t too bad, but it was really fun.”

The entire event at Crystal Lake had over 350 plungers and raised over $125,000.

“The best part of the event was participating as a school,” Sean Sterner, a teacher who participated in the event, said. “I’m proud to work at MCHS, and I love seeing our school make an impact on the community. The worst part was the fact that the water was shallow. I tried getting all the way under but it was hard because of how shallow it was.”

Many who participated in the event this year are looking forward to recruiting more staff members to participate next year and the many years to follow.