Joining Faith and Science: Nicole Phillipich's Journey to Stella Maris Academy

Nicole Phillipich's path to teaching science at Stella Maris Academy began in Virginia, Minnesota, where she attended Marquette Catholic School for elementary education before graduating from Virginia High School. Her early exposure to Catholic education would later influence her career choices. "When I was in high school, I just really loved the sciences," Phillipich recalled. "I find it so interesting how all of these really intricate details of biology work. I'm really drawn to molecular things like how cells work in particular. I took Advanced Placement biology when I was in high school, and that was just sort of like the kicker for me that this is what I want to do."

Initially planning a career in medicine, she attended the College of Saint Benedict in central Minnesota. A pivotal moment came during a summer research project: "I did a summer research project in college with my microbiology professor who studied infectious diseases, and I was hooked. I remember telling her, 'I want your job. I want to be a college professor.'"

This experience led her to pursue graduate studies at Yale University. During her time there, Phillipich made an important discovery about her career interests: "I found that I really enjoyed the teaching aspect of being a graduate student more than being a researcher. I enjoyed doing research, but I think my skill set really was more geared towards sharing information and helping others understand."

"After graduation, I worked as an adjunct college professor for a couple of years, and then we started our family and I took a little break from teaching," she explained. This break would eventually lead to an unexpected opportunity at Stella Maris Academy.

The decision to join Stella Maris Academy aligned perfectly with her values and background. "Catholic education has been important to my family since I was young," she notes. "My husband, same thing - product of Catholic elementary school, Catholic college. He went to Scholastica. So that was something we knew going in with our children that Catholic education was important to our family."

"As a Stella Maris parent, I was already familiar with the academy and the people here. So it worked out really perfectly for me to come in and start teaching," she said.

Her approach to education combines scientific rigor with broader liberal arts principles: "I am a firm believer in the liberal arts, in educating students to be full, well-rounded people that know how to think and speak and write, not just about science." "There are so many ways that science bleeds into other aspects of life, whether it's in literature or history," she elaborates. "For myself as a microbiologist studying infectious disease, the impact that infectious diseases have had on human history is profound."

On the topic of the academy's new science facilities, they have transformed Phillipich's teaching capabilities according to her. "The beauty is in the simplicity," she observes. "The space is open and clean... I feel like it makes it easier to think. Everything, all the details have been so clearly thought out." The impact on teaching has been significant: "It's really been planned in a way that promotes not only my ability to teach, but collaborative efforts with the students. The way that the tables are set up so that they can work together and plan their experiments and do their experiments together and learn together." She drew an interesting parallel: "It's a little bit like the phrase 'you dress for the job you want' - when you're in a space that makes you feel like a scientist, I think it encourages my students to act like scientists and think like scientists when they're in this space."

Phillipich is actively expanding the science program's offerings: "We're really focused on offering more college in the schools classes. My current chemistry class is offered for college credit through Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College." "We'd like to offer more classes like that, and for our senior high students, offer potentially some other electives for students who really want to go into science or healthcare - things like anatomy and physiology, honors level courses."

On the relationship between faith and scientific inquiry, Phillipich offers a thoughtful perspective: "We can never know how God works. What draws me to biology is the intricacies and the way everything is tied together. I can't look at that and not think that some higher power had a hand in that." She notes that this perspective developed during her academic career: "That's actually something that I sort of contended with a fair amount in graduate school. There are a lot of scientists who are atheists and see science as the only answer to life's questions. But for myself, I see the intricacies and the way everything is tied together."

Outside of teaching, Phillipich maintains strong connections to her Italian heritage and enjoys pursuing creative outlets. "My family is Italian, and I would love to visit Italy someday. My grandpa's family, they were from northern Italy, a little town called Julia Nova," she shared. "I love to read, and I really love to bake and be in the kitchen." Through her role at Stella Maris Academy, she continues to combine her scientific expertise, teaching skills, and personal values to create an engaging and effective learning environment for her students. Her journey from research scientist to high school teacher demonstrates how different paths can lead to finding one's true calling in education.