The Unified Club held a Polar Pop challenge on Friday, Feb. 20, raising over $800 for the Special Olympics.
Polar Pop is a virtual challenge where participants pop a water balloon above their heads. The money raised goes to training and competition for athletes with intellectual disabilities, sponsored by the Special Olympics. Life skills teacher Emily Hedrick reflects on the amount of money raised at the Polar Pop.
“It’s awesome,” Hedrick said. “It’s, I believe, the highest amount of money the school has raised in the past five years that we’ve done this.”
Unified club member and senior Brooke Schabdach recalls the impact of the Polar Pop on the school community.
“So many people care about what we’re trying to do and raise money for and being inclusive is really easy, doing things like the Polar Pop, raising money, it’s not difficult, it’s something that anybody can do,” Schabdach said. “So, I think it’s just a call to get involved for special and general education to kind of come together.”
Unified club member and sophomore Taylor Beckett highlights the importance of the Polar Pop outside of the money raised.
“Beyond the money, there were a lot of people in that club that are friends, and it promotes inclusivity; that’s really important, friendship, and working together,” Beckett said.
Beckett feels that an important factor in the Polar Pop is how it shows equality to all people involved, creating an inclusive environment.
“There were a lot of participants that did have disabilities, and it proves that people without disabilities and people with disabilities can do the same thing and still have fun,” Beckett said.
As the club continues events like the Polar Pop, Beckett remarks how the Polar Pop will bring her back to the next one.
“I would definitely do it again,” Beckett said. “It was fun, there were a lot of people that did it and…It’s important for unified club to do the Polar Pop because it really increases the representation for Unified and people with disabilities, and raising
that much money is just an amazing thing.”
