What does Poly Prep’s most multifaceted teacher do on a Sunday? The beloved biology teacher, past dean, former softball coach, and new interim Head of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) program, Erika Freeman, enjoys “a day of relaxation.”

 Freeman’s Sundays begin around 7:30-8:00. She doesn’t set an alarm on Sundays, unlike all other days of the week. As a wife and mom of four, “peace and quiet happens in [her] house only when everybody is asleep.” She enjoys a “cup of coffee and morning news:Good Morning America and whatever is on ABC at 10.” She details, “I like one particular coffee the most. I live on Long Island but I get my coffee either beans or grounds from Java Joe’s in Park Slope which is a tiny little place on Eighth street between Seventh and Eight.  Starbucks sucks in comparison.” Freeman is quite the multitasker: “As I sit and watch, I create my lists to go pick up from the grocery store or BJs or Target,” she said. 

Freeman’s peaceful morning usually ends around 10 a.m. when someone else in her household wakes up. Crystal, her youngest child, “is up first and she is nine years old and she comes down ready to snuggle and whatever’s happening, stops. This Week with George Stephanopoulos, no.” Breakfast is a second cup of coffee for Freeman. Soon enough the rest of the Freeman family is awake and as Freeman put it “I’m mom.” However, this is Freeman’s “ideal Sunday morning.” With three children playing travel lacrosse: “On any given Sunday I might be on the lacrosse field…My routine is driving to New Jersey or east on Long Island,” she said. On those days Freeman said, “ I usually read while people are warming up for practice.” During games “I cheer…I cheer for my kids, I cheer for my students” Freeman detailed. She also added, “I support my colleagues” in their various activities and accomplishments. 

On Freeman’s lacrosse-free days, she greets  her husband when he wakes up. She will “usually make him a cup of coffee too, but he doesn’t mind the Keurig,”saving her favorite coffee for herself. “And then having a bunch of daughters, the afternoon is usually about somebody’s hair,” she added. She also makes sure to call her mom and sister on Sundays to catch up. Additionally, Freeman mentions, “I go out to pick up the stuff that I want.” This is not a task Freeman enjoys. She states, “I hate shopping any and all kinds of it. One of the good things to come out of COVID is people doing the shopping for me so all I have to do is pick it up.” Cooking is another task Freeman is not a fan of. “My preference is something that is going to cook itself,” she said. Family favorites include her beef and broccoli or curried chicken, but her preference are the meals that will cook themselves. “Instant pot is the best invention ever! It makes me very happy,” she remarked. 

When they aren’t out on the lacrosse field, the Freeman family usually has a game on the television. “We relax. In the winter football is on, or basketball is on,” she explained. The Freeman’s “are New York teams all the way,” supporting the Jets and Yankees. Basketball is a toss up for her between the Knicks and Nets but she “always root[s] for New York.” Her family usually spends afternoons together in the living room. They also enjoy Abbott Elementary, which Freeman finds hilarious. 

Family dinner occurs around 6:00-6:30 on a Sunday. However, bedtime for Freeman isn’t until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. According to her “there is stuff to do! Once my house wakes up I don’t have time to grade my student papers or planning. So that will happen once people go to sleep.” She dedicates her Sundays to being a mom. “My kids share their mom with Poly all day everyday. On Sunday and Saturday they get their mom,” she said. “I do what our home needs me to do. I don’t go out for a jog. I don’t go out for a bike ride,” Freeman said. Sunday is a day where she balances all of the responsibilities of being a mother and a teacher. Each week she accomplishes all the tasks of a Sunday, and wakes up again at 5 a.m. Monday for another school week.