Zach was born and raised in Peoria with a public and private school education. He graduated from Peoria Notre Dame in 2002. Thereafter, he attended ICC and Illinois State University where he earned an associate’s degree, a minor in geography, and a bachelor’s degree in social science education. After graduation in 2007, Zach started teaching at East Peoria Community High School (EPCHS) and began participating in the Junior Achievement program. Later in 2010, he received a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the American College of Education. Zach is a proud father of two 2 beautiful daughters, Kerrigan (7) and Fallyn (3), with another daughter due April 4th!
Beyond teaching, he is also the Key Club advisor, senior class advisor at EPCHS, and a member of the East Peoria Kiwanis. Additionally, he has been coaching wrestling for the last 15 years at EPCHS, and coached football for seven years until his first child was born.
This is his 15th year at EPCHS, where he currently teaches all levels of Consumer Education Economics to sophomores. As to why Zach implements JA into his classes and his source of inspiration throughout the years, “I believe Junior Achievement is invaluable to my curriculum in order to prepare my students from making daily choices to the huge decisions in the next few years, and for the rest of their lives. I always knew I wanted to be an example to students and athletes of hard work, dedication, and passion. I was inspired by two amazing parents, Joe and Nancy, as well as great coaches and teachers. I knew early on that education was the path to become the teacher, coach, and mentor that my role models had been for me. I am blessed to be where I am today, teaching what I teach, and incredibly humbled by this award.”
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