A few inches of snow didn’t stop Silas Wood students and their principal, Mr. Stephen Toto, from jumping into the cold waters off Long Beach to raise more money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Team Silas Superstars braved the 35-degree air temperature and 41-degree water temperature on Sunday, February 9th for their 6th annual Polar Bear Plunge for Make-A-Wish.  

The Silas Wood plunge is part of the larger annual Long Beach Polar Bear Splash that celebrated its 25th anniversary this year of raising money for the charity that helps make wishes come true for critically ill children. Thanks to pledges from the Silas Wood 6th Grade Center family and the South Huntington community, the Silas Superstars raised more than $10,500 this year.  The team has raised on average about $10,000 each year it has participated, bringing their total to around $60,000.  And Mr. Toto has no plans of stopping there.  He’s already planning for next year!

Despite the snowfall the night before, once it was determined the roads were safe and the plunge was still on, more than 30 students, their parents, Mr. Toto, and some Silas faculty members all headed to Long Beach for the 11:45 a.m. wintry dip.  “We're teaching the kids to be kind and compassionate and really respect others. And when we're doing this for a charity, like  Make a Wish, where kids who are terminally ill are getting their wishes made based on the money that we're raising, it just makes it even more meaningful that we could make it happen,” said Mr. Toto.

Mr. Toto says it was probably the coldest plunge out of the last six years but the kids were still very excited.  “Normally I run and dive and usually stay in there for a half a minute. But I ran in and ran out because it was that cold.  But some kids went in multiple times. The water was actually the best part of the whole plunge. Being in the water was way warmer than being out of the water,” laughed Mr. Toto. 

It’s not only the sixth grade students who get their feet wet.  Mr. Toto says every year some of his former students who are now in Stimson or Whitman, or younger students who aren’t in Silas yet, sign up for the plunge.  He’s happy to see the students challenge themselves by doing something they might not otherwise do.  “It's all about the experiences we give them here,” explained Mr. Toto. “And this is probably an experience that might be a little out of the box, might be a little wacky and crazy, and not something they would've maybe normally done. But it's something that they're going to remember for a long time. And it also builds that sense of family and community because the parents love it just as much as the kids do.”

Congratulations to team Silas Superstars on your extraordinary accomplishment and for making South Huntington so proud!

Silas Wood gathered on the Long Beach boardwalk before taking the annual plunge.

Students on the beach in February, all for a good cause.

Principal Toto with his brave, and somewhat cold, Superstars!