Joseph Malyack has started a new chapter in his career as a new mathematics teacher at Becton Regional High School. Malyack teaches an array of math classes, including Calculus, Calculus Honors, and Geometry. Starting late last year, he has already made a large impact on the students learning experience. Not only does Malyack showcase his intelligence in the classroom, but also his versatility as the head bowling coach at Becton. Malyack is an avid bowler himself and carries an impressive six perfect games under his belt. This is not his first coaching gig, as he coached his own high school bowling team and has assisted a local bowling alley since he was a teenager. In addition, he is also the chess club, Math League, and the Math Honors Society advisor. Malyack is ecstatic about this opportunity at Becton and hopes to bring joy to the members of his team as a coach, while also being a useful mentor academically to his students. Although he joined our community during the fourth marking period of the 2020-21 school year, Malyack continues to educate and influence our students now as a teacher and coach. As for his time at Becton, Malyack reported, “You can really sense a lot of care in this community,” which he finds very admirable. During his time thus far, he advises the students at Becton to, “Keep trying your best and always believe in yourself. You are the only limit in your own education.”

Malyack opened up about his college essay involving the topic of limits which has set the blueprint for the person he has become today. Besides the term pertaining to math, he used limits as a way to express the obstacles he faced as a teen. He has since proved that limits do not exist and now communicates that lesson to his students. Attending Vassar College with a major in mathematics and statistics with a concentration in philosophy, he decided to go the route of secondary education in mathematics because of his passion for instruction. Even though his father and sister shared the same major as him, he declared, “I do not want my life to be about sitting in an office running programs and making some company richer, I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives.” And thus, a teacher was born!

Malyack brings new topics to the table every class and creates an impressive and lively way to engage his students. Intertwining his interest in philosophy and reasoning, Malyack begins class with a new quote on the whiteboard to help students use critical thinking skills and obtain knowledge outside of mathematical lessons. He has made tremendous progress with transforming lives such as Becton senior, Ava McLaren. McLaren expresses, “I enjoy the quote of the day. I believe it is a wonderful icebreaker to get the class started! There is a deeper meaning to the quotes because they relate to everyday life and provoke ideas that we take into consideration to be better people.” To add, McLaren states that “Mals” is easy to talk to and shows no trepidation in making the class laugh. 

During Malyack’s life thus far, he has discovered a lot of hobbies, such as playing chess, watching Star Wars – his favorite movie from the franchise being Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – Marvel movies, and anime. Apart from his great skill at bowling, he takes joy in playing golf in his spare time. With any other downtime he has when he is not grading assignments or crafting engaging lesson plans, he adores playing with his new dog, Benny, and going out with his friends. Out of all those possible experiences, he shares that the most memorable one was when he proposed to his fiancé last summer. The magical moment took place in the “happiest place on Earth”, Walt Disney World. Many can confirm that Malyack has and continues to make Becton HS another version of the “happiest high school on earth”.