Toughness and togetherness.
The Rainier High School boys basketball team’s motto has typically been confined to its play on the court as it continues its historic run into the 2B District 4 Tournament this winter. But the three-word mantra has taken on a meaning far greater than the game of basketball.
As the Mountaineers kicked off the postseason Feb. 8 against Winlock, they took the court during pregame warmups donning shirts that read “Poler Strong” to honor Peyton Poler, a Rainier Elementary School second grade teacher battling cholangiocarcinoma, a rare type of bile duct cancer.
Poler died at the age of 24 on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 16 following more than three months of battling cancer. As of Friday, Feb. 14, she had been home in Olympia since getting out of the hospital on Dec. 18 after a 10-day stay filled with tests, scans and procedures, according to her mother, Hillary. Peyton’s sickness had progressed so much since her hospital stint that it was discovered that her body wasn’t healthy enough for treatment yet.
Prior to Peyton’s passing, Hillary shared that she and their family were brought to tears by the basketball team’s support, which was spearheaded by an idea from senior Josh Meldrum. Meldrum’s mother, Rita, is the RES principal and had a strong relationship with Peyton.
“Peyton was very humbled and appreciative of Josh and his efforts to support her. She hasn’t met him personally, but she knows Rita very well and, through that relationship, she feels like she knows the boys,” Hillary said. “What Josh, and the team, did to support Peyton is something she would have done herself for someone else. She is very empathetic and always thinking of others, and Josh sounds a lot like her.
“As for our family, it brought tears to our eyes. We have always been the helpers in situations like this, so to be the family that is being shown the love and not giving the love is new to us, but it’s not something we will forget,” she continued.
Hillary Poler said the family received an “unbelievable” amount of support and love since the first day of Peyton’s diagnosis, including hospital and home visits, flowers, gifts, cards, pictures, videos, calls, texts and emails. The RES staff honored Peyton with a Disney dress-up day in December where they invited students and staff to wear their favorite Disney attire and handed out Disney-themed stickers and temporary tattoos.
Josh Meldrum pulled his team together prior to the postseason to rally around the Poler family. He asked the coaching staff if it was possible to make shooting shirts with the saying “Poler Strong” to wear throughout the postseason.
“She’s a part of our community. She’s my mom’s teacher. If she’s going through something, so are we,” Meldrum said Feb. 12. “We have to show up for what matters. She deserves all the support.”
Ben Sheaffer, the RHS head boys basketball coach and RES dean of students, described Peyton Poler as a “really energetic, vibrant young lady” and a “warrior.” As a coach who takes delight in mentoring student athletes and molding leaders, he said he was inspired by the maturity and selflessness of his team.
“Rainier is a community where people wrap their arms around each other and support one another when they need it. I think it speaks to how these guys have grown and matured, and they’re selfless,” Sheaffer said. “They want to give back and show gratitude. I think that’s one of the best things about coaching is watching kids mature and develop into really great people.”
Peyton Poler and her three siblings grew up in Montesano, which her mother said is similar to Rainier in that it is a small-town community where people step up to care for each other when there is a need.
Poler graduated from Montesano High School in 2018 and began working at RES in 2023. She led the Montesano Bulldogs to a state championship in softball as a junior, going 4-for-4 with three runs batted in in the championship game. Poler, a four-year letterman in softball at MHS, went on to play softball at Bushnell University in Eugene, Oregon, until the COVID-19 pandemic, when she became a tutor and coach. She had been working on her master’s degree to be able to better serve her students, her mother said.
The MHS fastpitch team honored Poler with an Instagram post, describing her as “the epitome of what it means to be a Bulldog.”
“She was an amazing daughter, sister, twin, friend, coach, teacher, player, teammate and, most importantly, human being,” the team wrote. “She treated everyone with care, thoughtfulness, compassion, kindness, and love. All things that she learned from her incredible family. We are all better people for knowing her. Her legacy will live on forever.”
Poler enjoyed water skiing, snow skiing and hiking. But her heart had long been in the education field, as Hillary said Peyton had dreamed of being a teacher since she was in the fourth grade.
“She loves her kids and she loves watching them learn and grow. Being away from them has been one of the hardest parts of this for her,” Hillary said.
Hillary said that Peyton’s illness came on quickly after “ravaging her body and going unnoticed for who knows how long” and that it was not evident that she was ill until November 2024.
“As her parents, we’d like to bring attention to cholangiocarcinoma and let people know that if you don’t feel right, it’s not always the best idea to ‘tough it out.’ Get checked out if you can,” she said.
Hillary, on behalf of the Poler family, including Peyton’s father Steve and siblings Julia, Ava and Bode, thanked the Rainier community and the boys basketball team for their support of Peyton during her battle with cancer.
“None of it has gone unnoticed or unappreciated,” she said. “Rainier is a special place that will always have our hearts.”
