Published September 4, 2024
BY NICOLE MIRSKI
Coming from North Monterey County High School is CHS alum Victoria Deckelmann, who is enthusiastic about being the new Biology and Honors Biology teacher at CHS.
Science teacher and CHS alum Victoria Deckelmann is excited to be back at her former high school teaching biology. (photo by NICOLE MIRSKI)
Deckelmann, who earned a degree in Agriculture and Environmental Plant Sciences from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, was inspired to pursue science after taking Jason Maas-Baldwin’s AP Environmental Science class at CHS. Initially interested in a career in agriculture, she shifted her focus after reflecting on the influence of her beloved former teacher, the late Whitney Grummon.
“With her passing, I realized how important she was to me,” the CHS grad says. “I weirdly just started to shift my mind and thought, ‘Maybe I want to be a teacher.’ So I did.”
Deckelmann isn’t new to teaching biology either, which she did for a year at NMCHS, in addition to three years of a science class consisting of physical, earth and space sciences. In order to continue her passion for science and the outdoors, she’s becoming more involved in the Great Outdoors Club and similar clubs around campus. She is also now a co-adviser of the Singer-Songwriters’ Club, which is another way she is pursuing her interests, this time in writing and performing music.
“I love playing music,” she says. “I’m actually in the Bubba Pickens band and we’ve had a lot of gigs, and they just become more and more often these days, which we love. There are also a lot of band practices, which are just overall very fun.”
The Bubba Pickens Band, composed of seven members, six of whom are teachers, is filled with faces that Deckelmann recognizes from her high school days, some of whom actually taught her.
“There are so many familiar faces, but I think that just speaks to how nice it is to work here,” says the previous Sandpiper writer. “There’s not a lot of turnover… and it’s such a gift to have so many mentors to look up to.”
Coming back to Carmel to teach has been a goal for Deckelmann for a few years, and her return is both nostalgic and exciting for her. While her teaching style was influenced by many of the teachers she had during high school, what makes her class engaging and fun is her personal flair that she adds, only amplified by students’ excitement.
“I feel so lucky and privileged to be here for so many reasons, and yet I also feel so at home,” says Deckelmann. “The excitement that I see here in the students excites me, so I want to be the best that I could possibly be.”
