Fatimazahra Dahbani also contributed to this article.
Dr. Giuseppe Formato resides in H315 as a new Italian teacher at Malden High School. His passion for the Italian language left Malden High’s Principal Christopher Mastrangelo with no other choice but to hire him.
Holland House Principal Marta Cabral believes that “no matter what, he will be a good fit in Malden.” She also said that “he […] knows several languages” including “Italian, Portuguese and English.” And that he “loves traveling […] teaching […] [and] wants to start an Italian club.”
Even though Formato is the one doing the teaching, he loves to learn as well. He comes from an Italian family where his thirst to spread culture began. Formato explained that “[Italian] has always been a very big part of [his] life” and so “[he] always [wanted] to share this with everyone else.”
Formato said that growing up with an Italian father was “so fantastic because [he] got to learn so much about different cultural aspects and linguistic aspects from [his father] that [he] thought other people around [him] did [not] really know.”
Formato has completed his Ph.D. and is pursuing his postdoctoral fellowship at Lisbon University Institute, which is about heritage learners of Portuguese in Massachusetts.
As for his classroom, he hopes to “create a safe, happy [and] low anxiety place” for students. As he formerly taught Portuguese, he “was excited to teach Italian at a public high school.”
When he arrived in his classroom “there was [not] anything on the walls; it was very bare.” Now he has a bunch of flags hanging near the door. He also has his students’ works on the walls along with a pasta poster that shows any kind of pasta you could imagine.
He came to Malden because he “heard so many great things about the school and mostly the students.” Previously, he only taught at a public school for one year.
He is also great at “[getting] to know [his] students better.” One thing that Formato particularly enjoys about Malden High is that there are a lot of Portuguese-speaking students. He was excited to know that “[he] could teach Italian, but [he] could also keep speaking Portuguese.”
Freshmen and sophomores alike will be happy to know they are not the only ones adjusting to the huge building that is Malden High School. As a new teacher, Formato only knows the main office and the hallway where he teaches. There was even an instance where “[he] had a teacher introduction meeting and it was a challenge to find the [classroom].”
As the year progresses, Formato looks forward to interacting more with his students and even creating an Italian club in the near future.
