Clinton youth plunges in to help other students.

Byline: John Weeks

CLINTON - Cody Goodnow spent Valentine's Day dressed as a box of candy hearts at the shore of Lake Quinsigamond in Shrewsbury. He wasn't participating in a costume ball. He was promoting the Polar Plunge fundraiser as it raised money for the Special Olympics.

"People basically jump into freezing water," said Goodnow, a fifth grader at the Clinton Middle School. "You have to be 16 or older to jump in the water. Or, you can have a waiver, but we didn't know about that in time."

Brave souls who throw themselves into the extremely cold water secure sponsorship. The money is used to fund T-shirts and other supplies for local Special Olympics. Goodnow was prevented from taking the plunge, but that didn't stop him from doing his part to help his less fortunate peers.

"Cody came up with the idea of having a change drive at the middle school," said his mother, Linda Goodnow. "It was for the fifth grade, with the winning classroom getting a pizza party. He presented his idea to the class and people liked it."

Cody said his class came within $3 of winning the pizza party, but with almost $900 raised throughout the fifth-grade class, the real winners are Special Olympics participants. Through a special web presence on the Massachusetts Special Olympics Web-site, Cody was able to raise almost $400 in additional donations.

"Clinton Savings Bank was great," Linda Goodnow said. "They let him use their change machines to cash the money in. It took an hour to count it all."

Cody didn't stop there. On Saturday, he went to the plunge to show his support. He teamed up with fellow supporters to take part in a costume parade. The team leader decided to go with a Valentine's Day theme. Several girls dressed up as candy hearts. Cody dressed up as their box.

"It wasn't a very comfortable costume," Cody said. "There were no arm holes and it was kind of heavy."

"He was such a good sport about the costume though," said Linda Goodnow. "He was a good sport about the whole thing."

Linda Goodnow said her son has always volunteered to help special needs students.

"I have taught special needs for 13 years," she said. "The past two have been at the Mulready School in Hudson. Before that, I was at the Hudson Middle School. Cody has come to my class and met my students. He has helped out a lot."

Linda Goodnow said she asked her son to help raise money for the plunge fundraiser last year. This year, he did it all by himself.

"A lot of community service and learning about other kids is cool," Cody said. "My friends in school were really interested in it. They brought in change for two weeks."

Linda Goodnow said she works with students with a range of special needs, from slight learning disabilities and physical disabilities to Down Syndrome, Autism and Asperger Syndrome.

"It's good for the typical kids to see different students," she said. "It helps them build empathy and also shows them how fortunate they really are. It allows them to give back to the community."

Linda Goodnow said special needs students deserve the same support that typical students get.

"They don't get to compete in physical events very often and they should be supported in their endeavors," she said. "I'd like to give special thanks to the fifth-graders for their support and enthusiasm in this fundraiser. I'm so happy the money is going to the Special Olympics. It's such a great event."

"It was fun," Cody said. "Next year, I'm going to get my mom in the water."

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: Cody Goodnow (in box) on the banks of Lake Quinsigamond, participating in the Polar Plunge.