Don Poland: A man who pays it forward

Don Poland and his wife, Cheri, moved to East Rockaway in 2009 with their children Tyler, left, Timothy and Emma

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Social studies teacher Don Poland, 53, of East Rockaway, has always been a take-charge kind of guy. Wherever there’s a need — whether it’s in his family, among his friends, in his classroom, in the community or even across the country — Poland is there and ready to help.

And he’s reluctant to take credit for his good deeds. “Don’t put my name on it,” he has said more than once when submitting a story to the Herald. “I don’t want it to be about me; I want it to be about the kids.”

“He’s passionate and 100 percent dedicated,” said his wife, Cheri Poland. “He takes his life experiences as motivation to help others. Anyone who knows him has heard of his constant efforts to better the community — and how he helps those around him.”

Don, the eldest of Don Sr. and Charlotte Poland’s five children, grew up in Baldwin and graduated from Baldwin High School in 1981. He met his future wife, Cheri Nelson, when they both worked at the Porthole restaurant in East Rockaway in the mid-’80s. They eventually became educators at East Rockaway Junior-Senior High School, Don teaching history for the past 17 years, and Cheri a special education teacher for the past 18. They were married on July 3, 2001 and have three children: Tyler, 11, Emma, 9, and Timothy, 8. They moved to East Rockaway in 2009.

A few years ago, Poland started a Pay It Forward movement among his students that eventually seeped out into the community, focusing on how far an act of kindness can go and how much one person can change the world. This theme runs through his social studies lessons, and he practices what he preaches, making several humanitarian trips in recent years with his students and their families to help others in need.

They took supplies to Oklahoma after deadly tornadoes there. Last year, Poland, one of his students, Angelina Sarro, and her father, Frank, helped out in West Virginia, where water had been fouled by a chemical spill, affecting nearly a half-million people. After collecting cases of water from local families and students, Poland and the Sarros made the 12-hour trip in Frank’s trailer.

In October, with the help of Owens Trucking, Poland went to South Carolina with much-needed supplies after the area was hit with flooding.