To kick off the 2025-2025 school year, Student Government brought snowflake cookies,
the talent show, pep rallies, and other thrilling events to Poly. As we begin the second semester,
Student Government plans to continue these festivities with Valentine’s Day celebrations,
therapy dogs, and more.
“We have a lot of exciting plans for the spring,” said Student Government President and
Polygon’s News Editor Reese Roaman ’25. According to Roaman, the first of these “exciting
plans” was Valentine’s Day celebrations, which included CandyGrams, a sweet treat that
students sent to one another, as well as the digitized revival of Singing Valentine’s.
Much like CandyGrams, students were able to fill out a form to send an acapella group,
or a Singing Valentine’s, to serenade their peers over email. While Singing Valentine’s were
previously discontinued due to their disruptiveness, sending them by email will ensure that
they’re implemented “in a way that’s not disrupt[ting] the middle of classes,” according to
Roaman.
Additionally, Student Government plans to revive the Health Intern program. According
to a 2022 Polygon article, the Health Intern program was initially created by late Health Teacher
Patti Tycenski in 1990 and allowed seniors to create and present health class curriculums to
middle schoolers.
Roaman, who participated in the program while in middle school and spearheaded the
effort to revive it, added “It was so special, and it was such a cool experience to work with
seniors being a fifth grader.”
While the Health Intern program ended in 2022 due to a lack of engagement from seniors
and Covid’s limitations on mixing grades, Roaman shared that she has been eager to reintroduce
it. “It was one of my favorite parts about Middle School,” she said, “and I also wanted to do it to
honor Ms. Ty.”
Student Government has also partnered with New York Therapy Animals to bring
therapy dogs to campus on March 31st when students return from spring break, as announced in
an Upper School assembly on December 5. According to the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, therapy
dogs “are an added benefit in the rehabilitation and stress management processes due to their
caring and compassionate nature” and are therefore being brought to Poly in an effort to help
anxious students relax.
“I’m so excited,” said Sophomore Kailynn Hernandez. “I’ve been waiting for our school
to do something like this. I think it would be very, very therapeutic especially when a lot of
students, like myself, [are] under a lot of stress.”
On February 24, Student Government also hosted its third annual Shark Tank, where
students pitched ideas that they want to see Poly implement. According to a 2023 Polygon
article, Shark Tank was introduced with the goals of creating “a school-wide event that would be

both engaging and meaningful, [allowing] student entrepreneurs to express themselves and their
creativity, and lastly, providing students with an opportunity to physically make an impact on
Poly with their product or idea.”
Ava Barbiere ’26, last year’s Shark Tank winner alongside Madeline Gross ’26, Emma
Auger-Dominguez ’26, and Amara Johansson ’26, on behalf of Women’s Entrepreneurship Club,
shared that “It was a really fun experience. I would never have thought to try and do something
like Shark Tank, [but] I’m so glad that I did.”
However, Barbiere also shared that there were flaws in the execution of receiving prizes.
While the winners of Shark Tank did have their idea implemented and were awarded the Social
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award, they didn’t receive the Poly merch basket or one
hundred Chef Lou bucks, a form of currency that can purchase snacks at school, that was
promised for several months after winning. Once Roaman was made aware of the issue it was
immediately rectified, and she shared that it was “certainly not intentional. Making sure all prizes
are given in a timely manner will be a priority for this upcoming Shark Tank.”
As for the end of the year, Student Government plans to work with 11th grade
representative Anna Brandmeyer on creating a book drive. “[Brandmeyer] won the Poly for
Good grant, and she’s working with this fundraiser that…brings books to kids,” added Roaman.
“So we’re going to try to organize a book drive.” While the idea hasn’t been proposed to Student
Government supervisors yet, Roaman shared that it would be a fun “way that the Student
Government can get involved in service,” and plans to pitch her proposal soon.
However, in order to ensure that the student government’s initiatives are supported,
Roaman emphasized the importance of spirit. “Student engagement drives all of Poly’s events,”
she said. “That’s why it’s truly spectacular to have our Spirit Captains, Seniors Lucia Zaremba,
Emilia Fusaro, Gordon Hoffman, and Athan Hatzigeorgiou. They are experts in capturing
student attention and boosting school spirit.” Furthermore, the Spirit Captains and Student
Government are working to host both a winter and spring pep rally in an attempt to increase
morale.
Contrary to last year, where there was only a fall pep rally, these rallies will also feature
the reappearance of the school mascots, more prizes than before, and the Pep Rally Cup, a spirit
competition which will “bring more initiative to [the rally].”
Roaman shared that with these events, Student Government will “make the spirit really
drive through all of the seasons,” which students across Poly are anticipating with excitement.