Samantha and I had the pleasure of interviewing Regis Pollard, a business teacher at Webster Schroeder High School. He teaches Microsoft Office, Career and Financial Management (CFM) and Word Processing. Pollard is a motivated teacher, who loves teaching his students about the business world and preparing them for future careers. He’s an awesome teacher, who always has a positive attitude and makes everyone feel included in class.
In his earlier years, he attended Rush Henrietta High School since he and his family grew up there. Later, he moved to Caledonia, NY which was a big change as he moved out to a more rural community. Pollard graduated from Caledonia-Mumford High School. Right after, he began coaching Modified Baseball then Junior Varsity Baseball from 2013-2016. In 2010, Pollard attended the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He earned his MBA and his undergraduate degree in Business Administration Management. Although Pollard landed his “dream job” of managing a sports complex, he ultimately decided to explore different opportunities. This is when he found a coaching job at Houghton University where he worked as an Assistant Baseball Coach and led his team to a conference-best from 2016-2017.
Pollard thought back to his previous years in college and realized teaching was his real passion. He really wanted to become a better teacher than he ever had while he was in school. A friend of Pollard’s reached out who was an administrator at Genesee Valley Central School and wanted him to teach Business. From here, his teaching career began. Pollard started teaching Business classes for Genesee Valley. The school asked him to move to an Itinerant Business Teacher at Genesee Valley BOCES for 2 years while also coaching varsity Softball at Elba Central School District. After taking classes from various schools he got a degree in teaching. Continuing on, he had a great opportunity at Le Roy Jr./Sr./ High Schools where he was a Business, Career, & Computer Science Teacher from 2019-2023. On top of all of this, he also became Head Coach of Junior Varsity Baseball. This team had an outstanding overall record of 36-3 in three seasons! Pollard was informed about an opening position for a Business teacher at Webster Schroeder High School. He interviewed and was immediately hired. Pollard began teaching August / September of 2023 and has loved it ever since.
Mr. Pollard is the type of teacher who “gets it.” He understands when you’re having a bad day and knows how to give you space or right advice when you need it. He’s a comforting teacher who always offers his support and encouragement to help you through it. Not only that, but he’s hilarious too. Pollard is very sarcastic and cracks jokes left and right. Every student looks forward to Mr. Pollard’s class or even just going in there to chill during study halls.
While interviewing him, I asked what his favorite and difficult parts of teaching were, and for both, he expressed it was the students. The kids that fill his classroom are what make him want to come to work everyday. He loves interacting and socializing while also teaching his students new ideas and ways of doing things. The students can also be a pain sometimes, and he gets that, and so he always stays patient and gives them the benefit of the doubt. Pollard has a lot of memories while teaching but one of his favorites was at an old school, where he was a substitute for a science class. He had instructions the teacher left and stated ¨they know what to do¨ and so he gets in there and the kids just leave. Following behind them out of the classroom, all confused, they ended up outside, and kept on until they reached a peculiar building. Inside was an enormous hydroponic system where these students grew fresh vegetables such as lettuce, strawberries, and tomatoes for the school lunches. Pollard had such an appreciation for this and genuinely couldn’t believe what an amazing job these students had done.
While Mr. Pollard dedicates much of his time to teaching, he still manages a work-life balance. Nobody likes to be more active than Regis Pollard. He is always participating in an activity. He loves playing club volleyball, softball and football. Another fun and unique hobby he enjoys around summertime is rollerblading at different colleges around the U.S. As crazy as it sounds, he has rollerbladed at more than 150 colleges/universities. Another hidden talent of Pollard’s is that he can play the piano very well. He loves to challenge himself by learning new songs to play. Not to mention, Pollard is very handy, he enjoys home renovations and adding nice new touches to his house. He lives in Henrietta with his wife, Amanda. On the weekends, their favorite activity is going to Dave and Busters to compete against each other at the games! They love spending time with friends and family as well. When I asked Pollard his favorite place he has ever traveled it was hard for him to choose and so he went futuristic. Pollard and his amazing wife have a planned trip to Maui, Hawaii this summer. He’s looking forward to going to the luaus and snorkeling in the clear blue waters while just enjoying the island with his wife.
Pollard has a brother, sister and two loving and supportive parents. Every summer he and RJ (his brother) attend a Yankees game or two at a new stadium in a different state! Yearly, his dads side of the family gets everyone together (80-100 people) for a huge family reunion. Pollard would have to say these reunions are some of his funniest memories. His family dedicates Pollard as the game show host and they play games like The Price is Right and Family Feud where the questions resonate with his family. He has such a fun time playing this with his family and looks forward to it every year!
