Music soothes the soul—and raises money for the athletes of Special Olympics.

On November 16, seniors Beth Clapsaddle and Katelyn Crompton put on their “Special Olympics Benefit Concert” to raise money for the cause. They put on the concert both to fulfill their Capstone project requirements and for the good of the Special Olympics.

Clapsaddle originally got involved with Special Olympics three and a half years ago, as a volunteer figure skating coach. She gives up some of her own time every Saturday to coach.

“I started to coach when some friends got me involved. I liked it a lot because skating was starting to feel like a job and coaching made it fun again,” said Clapsaddle.

The girls recruited performers by announcing auditions of Facebook and holding auditions three weeks ago. Both girls are active in the WS Choral Department, so many of the other members of the Madrigals, Personality, and the various other chorus classes joined their ranks and performed at the show. Seniors Moira Lennon, Kelly Allen, David Jo, J.D. Fortney, and Jenn Butts, juniors Hannah Ernst, Danny Fraedrich, Andrea Hamilton, Devon Winslow, sophomores Ashley Frost, Michael Wilson,  and Bella Lucchesi, and freshman Haley Lipton all took part, either singing or providing some form of musical entertainment.

“I wanted to play. It was a really great opportunity to raise money for Special Olympics,” said Butts. “I wanted to help [Clapsaddle] and [Crompton] out with their Capstone too.”

About 100 people came to the concert, both in support of their friends performing and in support of the Special Olympics.

“It was a lot more successful than we thought it would be, and we raised a lot of money for Special Olympics, and a lot of Special Olympics athletes were there,” said Crompton.

One Special Olympic athlete, Kirsten Stone, was highlighted during the concert. She was the designated Keynote Speaker, and gave a speech about how students and their parents can get involved in Special Olympics.

“My favorite part was the Keynote Speaker,” said Lennon, who sang two songs on her own and played the accompaniment for another song. “I liked that she was able to communicate with us on a personal level and make a personal connection.”

The concert raised almost $600 for Special Olympics. The company will use this money to purchase equipment for events of all sports. What is not used for equipment will go into a general fundraising account for later use.

“I can’t stress how impressed I was with the performers and to see all the people there to support us,” said Clapsaddle. “I was surprised but really happy to see the number of people who showed up.”

The atmosphere of the concert provided people with the desire to donate to the cause. Seeing all the Special Olympics athletes so enthusiastic and happy to be at the concert really made the whole experience worthwhile.

“It was extremely heartwarming. [Stone] gave a great speech at the end of the concert, and all the performances were great,” said senior Mike Hess, who attended the concert.

At the conclusion of the concert, Stone urged the audience to visit volunteertocheer.org, a program which allows people to sign up to go to Special Olympic events and cheer on the mentally disabled participants. She told the audience how much it helps to hear people cheering you on when you feel like quitting.

“All the athletes look forward to going to practice all week,” said Crompton. “Most of the time, they are outcasted but at Special Olympics they don’t have to worry about people judging them and they can just have fun.”