After taking a step back to advocate for animal rights, Stacy Williams began working at the high school this September as an 11th grade biology teacher. Animals have always been her thing, which led to her passion for science. She previously worked in Belmont, Mass., and has been teaching for 15 years. Outside of teaching biology, she enjoys rock climbing, reading and volunteering.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How was your transition to working at BHS after taking a break?
It’s been amazing so far, honestly. I wasn’t sure when I stepped away if I would come back to teaching, but I started thinking more and more how much I missed it. So when I got the job here in Brookline, it was a district I had always kind of had my eye on, so I was really excited to be here. Everyone has been so nice, so welcoming and so helpful that it seems really great here.
What did you want to do growing up?
Since I was a little kid I was completely obsessed with animals in the natural world. Probably until 4th grade, I wanted to be a bunny when I grew up. I legitimately thought I was one, and when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I was like, “A bunny. I’m already there.” I was a very strange child; I went through all sorts of phases. There was a marine biology phase as a kid that I did not revisit again until college though. But I went through [phases] like, “I want to be an actor, I want to be a psychologist.”
What’s something fun you remember from high school or college?
When I was in high school, I didn’t play any sports, I barely did clubs, I just wrote angsty poetry because angst was all the rage back in the 90’s. In college I started playing in bands. So I was a singer and guitar player and occasional base player for bands for 12 years. So, that was my thing then. I’m a retired rock musician. I was mostly the singer. I did sometimes play the guitar. Sometimes they even let me play harmonica even though I have no idea how to play the harmonica. I played bass in a couple bands too.
What made you want to become a biology teacher instead of pursuing other hobbies?
Music was a hobby. It was just a fun thing. I went to college and I started out as a biology major. I had some doubts at first because when you’re a bio major you have to take a ton of chemistry and a ton of math and physics and all of that stuff and I was like, “Ah, I don’t know if I want to do all of this.” But I did settle back once I realized marine biology could be a thing, so that’s mostly what I focused on, but yeah music was just for fun.
Why did you decide to be a biology teacher over specializing in marine biology?
So as I got towards the end of college, I realized that there were a couple different paths I could take, and the most obvious one at the time was doing research, like getting a PhD. I did an internship right out of college but research just wasn’t for me. So my next move was to get another internship here at the New England Aquarium. When I did that I was doing marine biology education. I was like, “Oh yeah. This is what I like.” So from there, I tried to decide, “Do I just want to do outdoor education or do I want to go into teaching high school?” Eventually, I ended up in grad school, and here I am.
What hopes do you have for your students?
I hope that they feel a sense of wonder and curiosity about biology. But in general, I just kind of picture myself as a little kid flipping over rocks and just being super curious about things. That’s what you hope for, as a science teacher, is that people will hear things and be like, “Wow, that’s so cool.” and maintain that sense of wonder.