Andrew Poalillo, math teacher by day and guitar player by night, has some pretty straightforward advice for students:  “Think for yourself. Do not blindly follow what others around are doing.”

Poalillo has tried to follow his own advice since his childhood in Maywood where he grew up.  Although you might not have heard of it, this town is near almost everything!  The Garden State Plaza is a walk away, and it is also home to “The Fig Leaf” where a lot of girls get their prom dresses, so he always avoided it.

Poalillo attended Ramapo College, and this is where he began to aspire to be a teacher.  He loves to work with teenage kids and said that “If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be a teacher.”

In his spare time, Poalillo likes to play the guitar, help out his father’s construction company, and play wiffle ball, even boasting of a wiffle ball field in his backyard.   He has foul poles, real bases, and mows his lawn to look like a real field.  In the future, he plans on building an extension of his house for spectators to watch the games.  He often hosts wiffle ball parties where he gets to play with his friends.

“I have to get out there to trim the trees and cut the grass this weekend,” Poalillo joked.

Poalillo has been a math teacher at Wayne Hills for nine years.  He currently teaches freshman in his Unified Math class and juniors and seniors in a Pre-Calculus class.  In the future, he plans on becoming a principal.