Peterborough principal pays back pupils with polar plunge

To make good on a promise to his students, John Jalsevac braved the elements by taking a dive into Little Lake. 

At the end of November, the principal at Peterborough, Ont.’s Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic School  provided a bonus incentive to the school’s fundraising campaign. If the school community could raise $50,000 by New Year’s Eve, Jalsevac, alongside outgoing board chair Frank Callaghan, would partake in a classic Canadian tradition: the polar plunge, which is just as bone-chilling as it sounds, in the freezing waters of Peterborough’s Little Lake. 

True to their word, Jalsevac and Callaghan’s leap of faith into Little Lake took place at Beavermead Park Jan. 26. Prior to their dip, and as the area was “enjoying” a severe dose of Canadian winter, the headmaster jokingly said, “I expect after this cold snap that we've had for the past few weeks, that we’re going to be cutting through ice to get at the water.”

The fundraising campaign comes as the K-12 Catholic school — which offers a classical liberal arts education based on the teachings of the Catholic Church — has seen a rise in enrolment. It’s a small school, with only 85 students, but that is up from 62 that attended last year. As continued expansion appears on the school’s horizon, the school commenced a fundraising campaign to meet this expected growth.

“We just thought that it was a really fun way to give a little extra motivation,” Jalsevac said. “Supporters of the school could get to see myself and our board chair suffer horrible pain, and what could be more motivating than that? Many of our normal financial supporters have donated along with a few students in the school as well.” 

Students have taken on service projects such as a bake sale that raised a couple hundred dollars towards the goal, while others even donated their allowance money with the hopes of seeing their principal and outgoing board chair take the plunge. 

But come New Year’s Eve, the goal remained a few thousand dollars short of $50,000 — until one final call to the school’s supporter list sealed Jalsevac’s chilly fate and pushed the total over the finish line. 

“I was manually updating the thermometer with every donation that came in because I wanted people to know exactly what was happening and I was pretty excited seeing it happen myself,” Jalsevac recalled. “Thanks be to God and by the grace of God there were a couple of donors who hadn't really given much in recent years but were so excited by the progress and the growth that they were very eager to jump on board.”

It then began to set in exactly what Jalsevac had signed him and Callaghan up for. Thankfully for the principal, this wasn’t be his first polar plunge, unlike his partner. 

“I remember saying, ‘Hey Frank, would you jump in a lake in January with me if we hit the goal?’ He said sure. He's an ambitious and eager guy… It’ll be his first, I think he's in for it.” 

Maura Baklinski, a parent of two children at Wayside, sang the praises of Jalsevac for taking on this chilly challenge. 

“I'm glad it's him and not me,” she joked. 

“He's got a lot of energy, a lot of great ideas and I’ve found him very good at bringing people together and getting people excited about the school and what it stands for. He’s been a real asset to the school.” 

Jalsevac extended the invitation to Wayside’s high school students to join in taking the plunge. 

Ninth-grader David Connell is one of the brave souls who joined Jalsevac and Callaghan. 

“I've always wanted to do a polar plunge and this was an excellent opportunity and it’s for an excellent cause,” Connell said.

Donations will go towards increasing tuition assistance to make Wayside a more cost-friendly and accessible schooling option, as well as overdue building renovations and improving overall financial stability. 

Those interested in donating to help OLWCS reach its goal of $150,000 can do so at https://olwayside.ca/campaign/