Poly People

Matt Durando ’96, P’30

• Lower School Physical Education: US Varsity Baseball Coach
• 718-768-1103
• Email
• Fairleigh Dickinson University, Florham Campus (BA), Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus:(MBA), Touro College (MA)

Matt Durando ’96, P’30 has an MBA, but, since 2006, he has been teaching Lower School students that athletics is more than just winning or losing. Matt made a career change from business to teaching after 9/11, encouraged by educators in his family. “As a P.E. teacher, each day touches upon gross motor development, fine motor skills, explosiveness, hand/eye coordination, and improving a skill set. What can be neglected are the social-emotional topics that arise in a P.E. setting. At the Lower School, we teach sportsmanship and focus on friendly competition and implementing new strategies. When a team loses a tough game, figuring out where the mistakes were made and creating a plan to fix them is so important. So many life lessons are learned when this happens. Teammates talk, communicate, collaborate, support each other; it is an amazing sight to see. I love the feelings they share when their adjustments work.”

Athletics Lower School