Deborah Moniot has only been a chemistry teacher at Castilleja for about a year, but her positive impact will last long beyond her teaching years.
Moniot grew up in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In fifth grade, her teacher had students write down who they wanted to become when they were older. “I remember saying ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic and Christly Brinkley,” Moniot said.
Moniot said she found school to be “a place of comfort and exploration.” High school was especially a formative time in her life because she found a group of friends with whom she could unapologetically be herself.
According to Moniot, her high school biology teacher inspired her to teach, especially in the science realm. “When I graduated, he signed my yearbook and wrote, ‘Go clone me a double, because I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this,’” Moniot said.
She added that his comment made her realize how impactful a teacher can be, fueling her motivation to recreate a similar positive learning environment for her students. Moniot hopes her students will come to class excited to learn and have fun doing science.
After graduating from Brandeis University with a degree in biochemistry and a minor in theatre, Moniot said she was torn between pursuing theatre or continuing with science. Although she had already been accepted to UC Berkeley for graduate school, intending to major in science, she deferred the offer for a year to fulfill this “what if” in her head of wanting to pursue theatre as a career. “With one of my top priorities to have a family, I realized pursuing theatre wasn’t compatible with that lifestyle,” Moniot said.
Moniot started her career teaching science in various high schools and continued to do so for a decade. “I ended up moving to Japan and working in a school for some time, which reminded me why I started teaching science in the first place,” Moniot said.
Moniot became motivated to teach at Castilleja when she attended a Gatorbotics event in 2024. She said that observing how the students carried themselves with poise and confidence in both their interactions with peers and faculty members was a strong incentive to start working at Castilleja.
To this day, Moniot said her favorite thing about Castilleja is interacting with students, both in and outside of class. “I love connecting with students in a high school dynamic,” Moniot said. Her main goals are to continue building strong connections with her students and give them the confidence to “just keep going.”
