What makes Poly Prep the school that it is today? That’s the question that Jared Winston is asking himself and the Poly community throughout his first year as the Interim Director of Student Life. This is an important position, as it’s all about making sure everyone has something here to fulfill their interests. 

Winston started at Poly in 2019 as a Middle School French teacher. Before coming to Poly, he worked at the Scarsdale Middle School, the Sheridan School, and the Washington International School during the summer. When planning his move to New York, he said, “[I] immediately fell in love with the campus, and felt such a warm welcome from the faculty…[I] could not pass up the opportunity to learn from and work with such great faculty and curious students.” 

He enjoys, he said, “learning languages, hearing people’s stories, watching soccer, listening to albums all the way through as the artist intended, going on long walks, and taking photos of street art and graffiti.”   

One of the things that Winston is implementing this year is the Spirit Cup competition. If you’ve been at Poly for a few years, you know that Poly usually has a Middle School and High School field day. Everyone gets a shirt, either Blue and Grey, and they dress up in their color and cheer on their team. However fun (or scary for people who don’t like sports) these field days are, they last only a day.

This year, however, things are changing. Sports-only field days are a thing of the past as now Poly hosts the Spirit Cup, which features events throughout the year like Poly’s Got Talent and Spelling Bees, along with traditional volleyball, capture the flag, and many other team-building activities during this year. 

Over the coming school year, Winston has planned the Spirit Cup along with other Chapels and activities in hopes of rejuvenating the energy Poly had before COVID—and keeping the community together. 

“There is something very special about this school community, and I think it is important to reflect—especially after a year and a half of such unprecedented disconnect—on what binds us,” he said.