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Mr. Zach Rivera

6th Grade

Mr. Rivera's Website

Mr. Rivera always knew he wanted to teach and knew it had to be in Chicago Public Schools.He has been teaching for seven years overall and this is his fourth year here at BP, where he teaches Middle School Language Arts. He believes in giving each of his students many opportunities to become better readers, writers, and people. He wants all his students to leave his classroom at the end of the year with a greater love for reading than they had 40 weeks earlier.

Mr. Rivera is a true Chicagoan. He grew up on the northside of Chicago and was part of the first graduating class of Walter Payton College Prep in 2004. After high school, he stayed in Chicago and went to Northeastern Illinois University where he earned a Secondary English degree. Since then, he has also become English as a Second Language certified and earned a Masters in Literacy from American College of Education. He is also currently taking Spanish classes every week to better communicate with his students and their parents.

Mr. Rivera has an awesome family that he is very appreciative of. His wife is a Neurosurgery Physician Assistant; his father is a retired Chicago Police Officer; his mother is a legal secretary; and his brother is a tattoo artist. When Mr. Rivera is not teaching, he loves to see a new movie every week with his wife, talk Pittsburgh Steelers football with his dad, call his mom on the phone to tell her how school went, and get tattooed by his brother’s awesome designs.

Mr. Rivera is extremely honored and proud to be a part of the Brighton Park family and truly loves coming to work everyday. He is thankful for each one of his students for working hard, being respectful, sharing their ideas, and listening to all his stories! He could not imagine teaching any other group of students anywhere else