The National Honor Society (NHS) chapter of The Storm King School has done it again. They convinced a group of students and faculty to “Take the Plunge” into the chilly waters of the Hudson River while raising money for a good cause. On Wednesday, May 3, the entire school made their way down the Mountain to Donahue Memorial Park in Cornwall-on-Hudson, to watch, laugh, and cheer as two groups of student and faculty volunteers splashed their way into the icy water.

 

 

The fundraiser was the culmination of our NHS chapter’s year-long campaign to support South Dakota’s Crazy Horse Memorial. According to the SKS’ NHS Adviser, “When Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear approached sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to create a memorial to honor Native Americans, it set in motion one of the most heroic undertakings in our nation’s history. “Take the Plunge” was designed as an event to raise money for this charitable cause.”

 

 

In the weeks before the event, our NHS members put together a list of volunteers, then went about collecting donations from students, staff and friends. Each donor was able to choose their most wanted candidate to “take the plunge.” The five faculty members and five students who received the highest total donations went in the river. Junior and NHS delegate Jack Besterman, who coordinated the fundraising effort, was very pleased with the results. “It’s always great to see people giving something for a good cause,” said Jack. “Whether that be the students and faculty giving money to a charity, members of NHS donating their time to collecting that money, or the brave volunteers who put themselves on the line for going into the Hudson, it’s a wonderful show of human kindness and generosity.”

 

 

First up were the top five faculty members in terms of donations – Assistant Head of School for Student and Residential Life Mr. Al Lewis, Mr. David Mendlewski, and SKS’ NHS Adviser, with nearly $200 donated to make sure they “took the plunge.” They were joined by other intrepid faculty including Mr. James Bennett and Dr. Tim Lance who whooped, hollered and cringed as they hit the water running. To the crowd’s surprise, this year’s event also had a very special visitor – none other than Santa Claus himself, a.k.a. Mr. Martha, who later found himself the subject of endless “memes” on social media.

 

 

Next up were the top five students – a new addition to “The Plunge” this year. Donning their life vests, Jim Ning, Tanya Chandran, and Mark Katz were joined by Jayden Figueroa and Alex Conjic as they “plunged” into the freezing water. “I am proud of the effort made by Storm King’s National Honor Society to support the Crazy Horse Memorial,” said the NHS Adviser. According to him, the NHS raised a total of $2,000 toward the Memorial, and “Take the Plunge” accounted for $1,200 of that. “This year the event was great because it generated a real partnership between faculty and students. I think that it brought synergy to the School,” he said.

To find out what our students say about their time spent at The Storm King School, visit our webpages on Student Life.