Junior Claire Plunkett has joined the Special Olympics club, and may have found a career.

Inspired by events like the Winter Games and the Special Olympics athletes whom she has met, Plunkett has taken interest in a career in special education.

“It’s something that I love to do, so it’s definitely a career option for me,” Plunkett said.
New and old faces joined the Special Olympics Club in its annual Winter Games this year in late January in Seven Springs.

“I adore how much energy and love gets put into these events,” Plunkett said.

Though no Baldwin athletes participated in the games, about 40 club members volunteered each day to assist in activities.

“We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores who stepped up,” physical education teacher Tim Laughlin said.

Laughlin said he was thrilled with this year’s turnout. More students volunteered this year than in any of the other years he has been participating in this event.

“It was really nice to see a lot of new faces getting excited about this cause,” Laughlin said.

Student volunteers served as escorts for the athletes during their skiing events. Baldwin students ran the intermediate slope on their own while also assisting on the other three downhill slopes: beginner, novice, and advanced.

Senior Chris Collins took part in this year’s event and enjoyed the social and physical aspect of it all.

“Being able to work with this group while doing something that I also love doing was an amazing and eye-opening experience,” Collins said.

Collins was able to ski with the athletes in their free time as well as prepare them for their events.

Escorting them to their competition sites was Collins’ main job during the event.

The teams are county-based and they include a few surrounding states. About 20 groups participated in this year’s event.

Plunkett attended not only the games, but the opening ceremony that took place day a day earlier as well.

“The kickoff to the games was an amazing experience for me. They had fireworks and other activities to make it as exciting as possible for the athletes,” Plunkett said.

Whether or not a career in special education is an interest, Collins urges people to take part in events that the Special Olympics club has to offer.

“I would suggest this to anyone. No matter what your role is in the event it is something that everyone should experience,” Collins said.