Cathy Noon is the new US Chemistry teacher.

She’s originally from Yorkshire, England, but has traveled extensively.

She first got into chemistry at a young age. “I used to have a chemistry set at home with chemicals in it that probably shouldn’t be allowed,” she said. “Chemistry has always made sense to me.”

Noon went to university in Manchester, where she studied chemistry. “I specialized in analytical chemistry which for me was interesting because it’s problem solving and I like problem solving,” she said.

“I thought, man, I don’t really wanna work in a chemistry lab,” she said, so she went back to school and got a teaching certificate. She enjoyed learning chemistry and also enjoys teaching chemistry, especially seeing how students make connections and understand the material.

Noon taught for four years before coming to WIS in 1998. She worked at WIS for 17 years, until 2008. “I taught sixth through twelfth grade over my time here,” she said.

Later, she went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “I’d been [at WIS] for twenty years and I was ready to go on an adventure and do something different,” Noon said. 

However, the situation wasn’t what she expected, so she came back to the states to teach in Indianapolis. More recently, she taught at the McLean School in Potomac, Maryland. 

Outside of school, Noon loves to travel, although that’s been limited by the pandemic. More recently, she’s been to the UK to visit her parents. “I usually travel at Christmas and in the summer,” she said.

I love going to the Turkish markets and picking spices.

Cathy Noon

Some of her favorite places to visit include Turkey and Greece. She likes them because it’s sunny, there’s nice scenery, she loves to swim in the ocean, and the food’s amazing.“I love going to the Turkish markets and picking spices,” she said.

Noon also enjoys visiting Thailand. She went with friends and they “did a cooking school when [they] went there, so that was fun,” she said. “But again, the colors and the fabrics and the markets are so vibrant.”

Another one of Noon’s hobbies is cooking and baking. “I’m always looking for new recipes and making more interesting food,” she said.

She also loves trivia and does a weekly trivia night with friends.

Overall, Noon is happy to be back.“I’m really enjoying being back, once, you know, the hectic start to the first week is over,” she said.“It’s good to be back on this campus because it’s so pretty,” she said. “And, you know, I used to work here.”

by Isabella Duchovny