Beyond the Game: A Special Olympics Pennsylvania Profile Series
Meet Pavel Marin, a 2024 graduate from Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh, PA. We met Pavel at the Pittsburgh Cool Schools Plunge months before he graduated high school.
“This is my second year doing the Polar Plunge, but I’ve always been a big supporter of inclusion. And obviously, our school has a Unified program. It’s really great that we’re always able to come out and show our support.
Being a Unified Champion School means that we’re willing to take a stance against things like bullying. We take measures like inclusion that include our clubs, our academics, as well as outside of school. I mean, a lot of people think inclusion just happens at school or it’s what you learn during the school day. It’s what you take home with you.
When you grow up, you’re an adult, and when you’re out with your friends and you see something bad happen or something bad is said, you stand up for people. It’s a really important thing.
I think that there will always, unfortunately, be bad moments. And every bad moment that you experience, you have to learn from it. At Allderdice, we’ve seen growth. People are willing to take words out of their vocabulary that might be offensive, and bullying may go down, which is something that I’ve seen and has been great. But there’s always still a lot of room.
If you’re interested in becoming a Unified partner or joining a Unified team, remember what you’re coming in with. Remember what you’re going to take away from this by learning from others’ experiences, but also always remember the mission of the group. We promote inclusivity in not only our scholastics, but in all forms throughout life.”
Special Olympics Pennsylvania can’t wait to have “Beyond the Game” chats during this year’s Polar Plunge season. To #BraveTheBear and sign up for a Plunge near you, visit www.PlungePA.org
