Catholic students make plunge to help support people with special needs

Water temperature of 38 degrees was no match for the St. Mary’s High School swim team from Annapolis. Sporting big smiles, 35 team members jumped fearlessly into the frigid Chesapeake Bay Feb. 1 – churning up wintry water as they marched about and cheered one another on at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis.

The students were among an estimated 500 representatives of area Catholic schools who participated in the annual Maryland State Police Cool Schools Polar Bear Plunge benefitting the Maryland Special Olympics.

While some plungers dipped their toes and ran, St. Mary’s swimmers waded out to chest-level water several feet off shore to high-five safety swimmers in wetsuits – no easy task considering the frigid temperature.

Why such passion?

St. Mary’s has a special connection to the popular event.

Kathleen Randolph, St. Mary’s former swim coach and a current instructional assistant in the parish elementary school, is the mother of twin girls – one of whom was born with special needs.

Those girls, Kaileigh and Colleen, now 32, began life with extended stays in intensive care after they were born prematurely. Colleen was discharged after a 10-day stay, while Kaileigh (who would later be diagnosed with autism) spent two and a half months in the NICU.

The family was not expecting Kaileigh to survive and she was baptized and given the anointing of the sick in the hospital. With a lot of prayer, ­Kaileigh joined her sister and parents at home on Christmas Eve 1991.

“She’s our miracle child,” said Kathleen Randolph, watching Kaileigh ride a horse during a recent equestrian therapy session at the Maryland Therapeutic Riding Center in Crownsville.

Kathleen and her daughter, Colleen, began participating in the plunge many years ago and were later joined by Colleen’s two younger brothers, Kane and Cole. Growing up with a sibling with special needs, the brothers asked their principal at St. Mary’s High School if their plunge participation could be part of the school’s service-hour requirements. The St. Mary’s High School swim team joined them and started a new tradition, now 12 years strong.

Mission and service are at the forefront of St. Mary’s, according to Allyson Reiter, head swim coach and instructional assistant in the elementary school. She credits team leaders with keeping the plunge tradition alive.

Braving the cold water is a small challenge to overcome, said Reiter, who called families such as the Randolphs the real heroes.

“This isn’t about the swim team,” she said. “It’s kids helping other kids.”

McKenna Traxel, a senior who’s been on the swim team all four years of high school and knows Kaileigh well, said St. Mary’s is a family. She recalled many times when Kaileigh waved to team members after their practice.

Kathleen Randolph is optimistic about Kaileigh’s future. A job coach helps her daughter with daily activities including transportation to her part-time paper-­shredding-company job and a dog-walking business. Kaileigh’s siblings will be part of their sister’s future care.

“Don’t ever give up hope,” Kathleen Randoph said. “God has a plan. He puts it in the right hands of people to carry out his plan.”

In total, nearly 8,000 students from various schools participated in this year’s plunge. Among other Catholic schools participating was St. John the Evangelist in Severna Park, which brought 182 students and staff for its second Cool Schools Plunge.

Glenna Blessing, assistant principal and plunge team captain, said its participation started last year as an idea of the student council. But it didn’t stop there.

While the upper classes attended the Sandy Point plunge, a “Popsicle Plunge” was coordinated at the school for younger students who removed their socks and shoes and stepped into baby pools. Popsicle treats were the reward.

“Inclusion is a key role,” she said. “Students develop a deeper understanding of each individual person and their uniqueness, be it physical or academic – and it’s celebrated. They lift each other up.”

Helping hand

Catholic schools raised more than $55,000 for the Special Olympics in the Polar Bear Plunge. This year’s participants included:

· St. Mary’s High School, Annapolis

· Archbishop Curley High School, Baltimore

· The Catholic High School of Baltimore

·  Archbishop Spalding High School, Severn

· Loyola Blakefield, Towson

· St. Casimir School, Canton

· St. Philip Neri School, Linthicum

· St. John the Evangelist School, Severna Park

– Source: Cool School Plunge website

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