MIDDLETOWN -- Middletown High School Unified Sports coaches Liz Mancini and Kelly Griffin, plus Library/Media Director Ann Buchanan, all braved the icy water of Crystal Lake to raise money for Special Olympics and the high school's booster club last weekend.
The three -- along with seven others -- were part of the annual Penquin Plunge on Feb. 23. The others who joined were Buchanan's two sons, three of the Unified Sports partners -- Rachel Bonaparte, Katelyn Dickson and Maddie Feshler -- and two friends of Griffin.
"This is the fourth time we've done this," said Mancini, who is a social studies teacher at the high school. "And it was the coldest so far. It's our biggest fundraiser of the year."
Each participant solicited funds from those who supported their leap into the frigid water and among those cheering them on that day was MHS Principal Colleen Weiner.
The group raised $1300, half of which went to Special Olympics and half went to the hgh school booster club, which helps to provide for the Unified Sports program.
Unified Sports pairs differently-abled students with regular education students in competitive sports throughout the school year. The MHS team, which has been cited as exemplary by the CIAC and other organizations, competes with other Unified Sports programs in soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter and track in teh spring.
Griffin, the other coach, is an English/Language Arts teacher at MHS.
