Do we really know our teachers? Mr. Polston is one of our science teachers, but if you aren’t in the science pod often how much would you know about his exciting and wholesome life outside of school?
Q: What type of music do you listen to?
A: It depends what I’m doing. If I’m driving, it’s a lot of the Black Keys or Imagine Dragons. If I’m working out, it’s Lincoln Park
Q: Outside of school, what is your favorite hobby?
A: I do triathlons. So I do a lot of biking and a lot of running. I like being outside. I’ll also do some hiking in the prairie, in the forest, and in the backyard.
Q:What got you into triathlons?
A: I swam in college, and then I coached for awhile. There’s not a lot of open water swimming, so that was my way into triathlons, and then I tried one, and I got hooked on them.
Q: What is the biggest difference between open water swimming and swimming in a competition pool?
A: Clarity, you can see the person next to you in the pool, and you know, it’s a little bit more competitive. I think for open water swimming it’s more of a mental game. You have to be okay not seeing anybody for a little bit, spotting the buoys, and being able to get to the buoys. It’s more about the time than the competition.
Q: What is the most fun trip you’ve taken?
A: We take trips to Eagle River: me, my family and my siblings, and their families, and my parents. We go and rent a place up there. It’s three generations, and all our kids are about the same age. It’s a lot of fun there with many new experiences. You get to redo the experiences. You get to watch somebody fish for the first time and go on boats for the first time.
Q: If you weren’t teaching, what job would you have?
A: Oh, that’s a good one. Well, I had a job before teaching, so teaching is my second job. I worked in an environmental lab for a little bit as a chemist. It wasn’t the right fit for me, so I combined coaching and my love for science into teaching. I think now I know more about job opportunities than I did when I was your age. There’s a lot of really cool opportunities that can mix different fields. I was just watching the Netflix show “The Making of Stranger Things” and engineers were artists, cameramen were dancers. They were going through how they shoot those fluid shots where they don’t make any cuts, and the cameraman’s background was dancing but then shifted to camera work. Those possibilities are so cool. I didn’t know that stuff existed when I was your age. But this is my second job, this is what I chose to do, and this is where I want to be.
Q: What is the biggest difference you’ve noticed between being a high school student and now teaching at a high school?
A: I was in high school before smartphones, so there’s definitely a social aspect. Some things are similar, but I think the way students experience things is going to be different. I was able to leave the house and not be tracked. I would be gone all day with my friends, and my parents would assume I was at the park. We would go around and move parks and shift around, and we would be back for dinner. But I don’t think that stuff can be done anymore. Being a parent, even, I don’t know if I would do that with my own kid. Even thinking about post high school for me, college was expensive, but it’s not nearly as expensive as it is now. Thinking about opportunities afterwards, it seems a little more stressful than when I was there, and you can see that reflected in some of the students.
Q: What is a book you think everyone should read?
A: I would say Elie Wiesel, the Night, Day, and Dawn series I’d say everybody should read once. The Warmth of Other Suns is another book people should read. The Elie Wiesel ones, those are at high school level while The Warmth of Other Suns, I think is a little bit above. 12 Years a Slave would be the same area of understanding as the Warmth of Other Suns.
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