A group of College of Education alumni and Urbana School District employees raised over $20,000 for Special Olympics Illinois at the Mahomet Polar Plunge on Saturday.
Alumnae participating included Lynnsey Brownfield, Ed.M '17 EPOL, Mynette Kretz Followell, '07 C&I, Ed.M. '12 EPOL, Beth Koplinski, Ed.M. '09 C&I, Kathryne Brown, Ed.M. '16 C&I, and Molly Pankau, current Ed.M. student in C&I.
The Arctic Tigers are currently the top fundraising team in the state in their division. The 2024 plunge was the coldest in the 11 years that the team has been participating. “It was 25 degrees when we went in, but that wasn’t taking wind chill into account,” Brownfield told the News-Gazette.
Thanks to their fundraising, over 130 athletes will have their participation expenses covered.