For junior Elizabeth Langer, jumping into a freezing cold pool on a winter day isn’t just a crazy and fun thing to do. It’s one more opportunity to get involved and to help others.

Langer has been heavily involved in planning Baldwin’s participation in the annual Pittsburgh Polar Plunge, which raises money for the Special Olympics program. 

“I think it’s amazing watching people from all over Pittsburgh come together and do this silly thing for such a good cause,” Langer said. 

But the Polar Plunge is just one of the many activities that Langer is involved with at Baldwin. 

Langer is a member of the cheer team, she is on the board for the Best Buddies program, Mini-THON and National Art Honors Society, and she is prom chair for the junior class. Langer believes that by being active in multiple clubs, she helps both herself and the people around her. 

Her approach to school is “just being involved – seeing how I could make a difference in all these clubs, and seeing how I could help the world,” Langer said. “Just getting the full high school experience, I’d say.”

By being so involved in these organizations, Langer has had the opportunity to make many important memories during her time at Baldwin. 

“Some of my favorite memories are Mini-THON last year, and putting together things for Best Buddies and Special Olympics,” Langer said. “The highlight might have been the Polar Plunge downtown at Heinz Field Stadium.”

Langer believes that she has been able to balance such an array of activities because of her time management skills and her ability to set priorities for herself. 

She recently organized “Movember” events for the junior class to raise awareness of men’s cancer, and the reason she did it is because the issue is so rarely talked about in modern society. 

“Men dying of cancer isn’t really noted in society today. I think spreading awareness to all aspects of diseases or just equality in general is very important,” Langer said. 

She also took inspiration from her elementary school days when they’d have theme days and events for men’s cancer awareness in November, so she thought it would be fun to bring awareness back to this month at the high school. 

Junior Class sponsor Richard Deemer admires Langer and the work she does to help the people around her. 

“Liz helps to make Baldwin an enjoyable place. It could be an activity that she helps plan for students to enjoy or just having her offer a positive message and a smile to make someone’s day special,” Deemer said. 

Rachel Murrman, co-sponsor of the Mini-THON, said Langer is an enthusiastic student and a great friend to her peers. 

“I think Liz is an exceptional student who excels at trying to get her classmates involved in school extracurriculars,” Murrman said. “She shows her excitement and energy through her presence and in her written language.”

Junior Angelena Gromo has known Langer since sixth grade and they are on the cheer team together. Gromo credits Langer for inspiring her to become more involved and join both Global Minds and Spanish Club. 

“I am happy she got me to join these clubs because it helped me to be more involved and I ended up really liking the clubs,” Gromo said. 

Gromo feels that Langer is not only a hard working student, but also a good person. 

“Liz is very caring and loving. She knows how to cheer people up and she is a really good friend,” Gromo said. 

Deemer believes that Langer’s dedication and hard working attitude allow her to accomplish anything she sets her mind to. 

“Any job that is given to Liz, she consistently and successfully gets it done. She has a passion for helping others and the hard work ethic to make that passion happen,” Deemer said.