Benny O’Neill ‘25
Molly Estrada never thought she would get into education, but it was stamped into her genes.
Ms. Estrada, 35, is a St. Andrew’s alumna who moved back to the area in 2022 after fifteen years in Boston, where she attended Boston College and received her undergraduate and master’s degrees in secondary education and biology. She then taught biology and neuroscience at Newton South High School just outside of Boston.
In addition to her love for academics, she is an avid fan of anything outdoors.“Anytime I can, I choose to be outside,” she said.
She loves sports, including lacrosse, which is her favorite. She has been a lacrosse coach for ten years and has coached field hockey for two years.
Ms. Estrada’s teaching is not limited to the classroom. She loves teaching her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter about everything from the changing of the seasons to the different animals they encounter on their family hikes with their five-and-a-half-year-old golden retriever. “It’s so refreshing, calming, relaxing, and a good workout to go for a hike,” she said.
Although she loves teaching now, Ms. Estrada initially wanted to take a different path. “At first, I did not want to get into education because everyone in my family was teachers or principals,” she said. “I thought I wanted to be a doctor – pediatrician, sports medicine, or veterinarian.”However, these seemed like unlikely career paths due to the cutthroat nature of Boston College’s medical school and because she could not see herself as an effective veterinarian. “I really only love dogs, not cats, snakes, etc, so being a vet probably did not make sense,” she said.
She finally agreed with her parents that she would give a minor in secondary education a shot, and she loved it.
She continued to pursue education, and by her senior year of college, she was double-majoring in biology and secondary education. Ms. Estrada said she loves teaching biology at St. Andrew’s. “I can get students up and collaborating every day at lab benches doing hands-on activities to better understand why their bodies function the way they do,” she said. “Biology is something the students can experience because it is all about life, and they are alive!”
Ms. Estrada is also passionate about teaching her students about real environmental problems, such as climate change. She believes that by discussing pressing environmental issues, she and her students can “come up with solutions.”