Over the years, Will Maley has become a staple in the Chapman community.
He has gone above and beyond to do his part and make a difference in the lives of Chapman students, but now he is preparing to retire at the end of the 2023-2024 school year
Before working at Chapman, Maley sold tools to build bridges, skyscrapers and other buildings.
Maley then transitioned to teaching because he “likes helping people.” This way, he could be involved and help students every single day.
Maley has taught at Chapman for 15 years, teaching entrepreneurship, personal finance and government and economics.
Maley said he’ll miss one thing the most.
“The kids, they make it fun,” he said. “It’s work, but you guys keep me young.”
Silas Powell, a junior in Maley’s entrepreneurship class, loves Maley’s honesty and his easygoing conversational style.
“He’ll always be real and tell you what is right and what is wrong,” Powell said. “He is somebody I could always come and talk to about athletics or anything else.”
But his bubbly personality and realness aren’t just present in the classroom; they show on the soccer field too.
Maley started coaching the boys’ soccer team in the 2008-2009 school year and then transitioned to the girls’ team in the 2021-2022 school year. The boys and girls team was far from being a formidable opponent.
Maley began demanding more out of the boys, getting them to join soccer clubs and raising the standards to improve the program.
Maley describes the feeling he got from the progress he was able to inflict on the two teams as “one of the best joys” being able to take the program from what it was to what it is now.
Elizabeth Lawson, a junior on the girl’s varsity soccer team, and Brandon Vallecillo, a senior on the boy’s varsity soccer team, both agree that Maley pushes his players past their comfort zone to be better on the field.
“He sets high expectations for all of his players and pushes us to be the best we can be,” Lawson said. “He expects a lot out of us but he puts the same amount of effort into us.”
“He’s energetic and makes it fun,” Vallecillo said. “I’m going to miss his jokes, laughs and spending time with him.”
Maley’s life work is dedicated to getting involved and being hands-on – not an observer.
An example of this go-getter attitude is his walk for cancer.
In 2009, he joined a program that claimed to walk for 12 hours in honor of cancer survivors. Upon further inspection, he realized it only lasted five hours.
Deciding that was unacceptable, he took it upon himself to walk 12 hours. He took a day off school and walked the 12 hours every year for seven years, averaging 28-38 miles.
Eventually, students started to join.
He aimed to receive $1 per student and get them to care about something other than themselves.
As Maley prepares to retire, he has thought about what Chapman has meant to him:
“I think at the end of the day teaching at Chapman High School has been one of the greatest joys of my life. I’ve made great relationships with students, fellow teachers and coaches. I’m sad to leave this place but my time is done. I thank God for helping me to make the decision to leave, but also to help me make the decision to become a teacher and try to make the world a better place”
