Alumni in Action - Zack Valletta '13

Zack Valletta '13

In Zack Valletta’s ‘13 classroom at Yichang Junior High School in Hualien, Taiwan, learning English extends well beyond memorization and grammar worksheets.

His seventh and ninth grade students might participate in an Easter egg hunt, complete an end-of-year treasure hunt, or learn about holidays and traditions from around the world. Lessons have featured Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, and the Philippines’ Day of Valor, and more.

For Zack, now a foreign English teacher, language is a way to help students better understand both themselves and the world. “I like building relationships with students and helping people learn and achieve their goals,” he said.

That interest in teaching began to take shape during his own four years at Saint Ignatius. Valletta followed his older brothers, Pat ‘05, Kevin ‘07 & Anthony ‘09, to the school, where he became involved in soccer, pole vaulting, and the Arrupe Neighborhood Partnership. During his senior year, Zack participated in Arrupe’s Bigs and Littles program, forming meaningful relationships with younger students and beginning to see education as a possible career. “Arrupe showed me that I could be a teacher,” he said.

The classroom was not the only place where Valletta grew and discovered new passions. Fine Arts teacher Julianna Burrows helped transform what had once been a hobby into a serious pursuit. With Burrows challenging him to develop his talent, Valletta began to understand how far he could go when someone recognized his potential and expected more from him.

That encouragement directly impacted one of his proudest moments as a student, earning national recognition through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in New York City. The honor confirmed something Valletta had begun to believe about himself. He was not simply someone who enjoyed art as a hobby, he was an artist.

Receiving the Brendan Carey Award, presented to him by his brother Pat Valletta ‘05, remains another favorite Saint Ignatius memory.

Several teachers and coaches left a lasting impression on Valletta. Burrows pushed him creatively. Jim Brennan ‘85 shared a connection with the Valletta family and coached him for two years. The late Jim Skerl ‘74 combined genuine care with high expectations and challenged students to think deeply. Pole vault coach and teacher Joe Zebrak ‘87 had a similar ability to meet students where they were and help them reach the next level.

Together, those experiences taught Valletta a lesson that has continued to impact his future: You can do more than you think.

After Saint Ignatius, Valletta began his teaching career close to home at Near West Intergenerational School in Ohio City. He then made a much larger leap, moving to Taiwan without knowing anyone there. He taught for three years in Changhua City before moving to Hualien, where he has now spent several additional years in the classroom. At Yichang Junior High School, he designs and implements his own curriculum, creates textbooks, develops cultural programming for the English department, and helps train other foreign teachers from countries including the Philippines, South Africa, Canada, Scotland, and New Zealand.

One of the most influential times of his professional development came when Valletta temporarily stepped away from the front of the classroom and returned to the other side of the desk.

Through a Taiwan Scholarship, he spent a year studying Mandarin at Tzu Chi University. The experience gave him the opportunity to observe other teachers while also remembering what it feels like to learn in a classroom where nearly everything is communicated in another language. He was able to understand first hand what his own students were experiencing. It also helped him understand why certain mistakes appear repeatedly in his students’ English. A student might say “open the light” rather than “turn on the light,” for example, because the phrase follows the more literal structure of Mandarin. By learning the language his students speak, Valletta developed a greater appreciation for the challenges they face when learning his.

The experience reinforced his belief that good teaching begins with understanding where a student is coming from. Much like his teachers and coaches at Saint Ignatius, Valletta works to meet students at their current level, build a relationship with them, and then challenge them to move forward.

Although he lives thousands of miles from Cleveland, Valletta has remained connected to Saint Ignatius through friendships, family, and his past work with the Arrupe Summer Program. The lessons he learned at West 30th & Lorain continue to influence how he approaches his students and his own life.

His advice to today’s Wildcats reflects the path he has chosen:
“See the world… Get out of your comfort zone.”

Valletta hopes to continue traveling and remains open to new professional opportunities. Wherever those opportunities lead, his journey is a reminder that growth happens when someone is willing to step into an unfamiliar place and discover that he is capable of more than he imagined.