The addition of 16 new teachers have brought in more diversity than before. Now a month into school, the teachers have meshed well into the Gunn environment.

Math

Having taught at Gunn for nine years beginning in 1991, Kathy Hawes has returned after a six-year leave. During these years, she taught at Graham Middle School in Mountain View. This year, she is teaching a total of five periods of AB Calculus AP as well as Trigonometry/Analytical H. Hawes is “very excited to be back and to see new faces who are motivated to learn.” She enjoys having a good time, going to see movies, plays, and concerts. This year, she has even attended the Oprah Winfrey Post Academy Awards Show in Los Angeles.

Voula Tsigakou, one of the four new math teachers at Gunn, will be teaching Algebra 1 and Geometry/Algebra 2 to freshmen. She was a teacher at San Rafael High School. She enjoys cooking, dancing, shopping and being outdoors. She likes it here at Gunn, but admits that “one of the challenges is adjusting to the rotating schedule.”

New math teacher Rajeev Virmani has been teaching high school students for three years. He previously taught at St. Francis High School in Sacramento, an all-girls’ school. This year, Virmani will be teaching Geometry 1 and Algebra 1A with a total of five periods. A graduate of Leland High School in San Jose, Virmani recently returned to his roots by moving to San Francisco. He is an enthusiastic sports fan and once worked with children in the slums of India for eight months. Virmani enjoys the new environment here and feels that Gunn takes high performance to the next level.

This is math teacher Lorna Wilson’s second year teaching. Last year, she taught at Gilroy Middle School. This year, she is teaching four periods of Algebra 1. She enjoys teaching at Gunn due to the highly motivated students and the learning environment. The challenges facing her this year are adjusting to the new policies and the rotating schedule.

Physical Education

Physical education teacher Sarah Stapp has taught for two years. She adores it here at Gunn especially because of the overall higher emphasis on learning. Stapp studied at Sacramento State and was a member of the women’s basketball team. She also coached the same women’s basketball team soon after she graduated. An avid fan of basketball, she enjoys playing the sport in her free time and even knows a few players of the Sacramento Kings personally.

Although this is new Physical Education teacher Selena Hendrix-Smith’s first year teaching at Gunn, this isn’t her first year teaching in PAUSD. Last year, she taught Adapted PE—a class specifically designed for students with special needs. This year, she will be teaching five periods of freshman PE, including fitness testing, CPR, first aid and living skills. Hendrix-Smith enjoys working with the youth so much that she traveled to Trinidad for a month to help deaf children learn the American Sign Language (ASL).

Foreign Languages

Some teachers enjoy quiet activities in their spare time, but new language teacher Ayako Urao likes to salsa dance. She developed her liking for salsa dance through free classes and learned flamenco this summer in Salamanca.

One reason Urao enjoys teaching is for its versatility. “You can be an artist, you can be a writer, you can be anything when you’re a teacher,” Urao said. Urao hopes students will gain confidence in reading and speech and gaining exposure to language outside of school.

Gabriela Garga-Dominguez was born in Santiago, Chile, and came to California in 1997 and has been teaching ever since. Leaving her homeland has enforced her love of Spanish. “Once you move out of your country, you really begin to appreciate your language,” she said.

According to her, young people act more natural and authentic than adults in expression. “My favorite part of teaching is to see the reactions of students,” Dominguez said.

Social Studies

New social studies teacher Faith Hilal has taught at an international school in Morocco. “They speak English here and it’s less diverse here,” Hilal said. “For every 20 students back at the school in Morocco, you could expect 14 different languages to be represented.” This will be her third year teaching and she is thrilled to not only be teaching her favorite subject, but also to be here at Gunn. An obstacle she will have to overcome throughout this year will be figuring out which way is the best to reach the students individually.

Not only new to Gunn, but California too, Ann Nyffeler now teaches in the social studies department. She has been volunteering and teaching in schools for five years. Nyffeler taught at a school in Florida in a college town that was very similar to Gunn but without an open campus. She looks forward to working with great students this year. “I love my job,” Nyffeler said, “I’m right where I want to be working with great students and staff.”

Science

Chris Stallings, who is a new science teacher, teaches Biology 1, 1A and 1AC this year. He enjoys running and doing all kinds of trivia in his spare time. He is a Jeopardy winner. This will be his 12th year as a teacher. “I look forward to just becoming a better teacher, learning new things and having an actual summer with the sun and everything,” Stallings said.

As a long-term substitute for Angela Merchant, John Sphar looks forward to teaching her freshman Biology class. “I look forward to all my students being successful in school and getting really excited about science like I do,” Sphar said. This is his first time teaching high schoolers, but he has had experience through substituting and teaching corporate classes and outdoor skills the last 20 years.As Sphar is settling into the Gunn environment, he is working his way through the biggest challenge he has had at Gunn so far—the rotating schedule.

The upcoming year is going to be an exciting one for Kate Morgan, a new science teacher. She has found that the culture at Gunn is very unique. The students are down to earth, but they work hard. “My students are great!” Morgan said. “They make me laugh and definitely keep me on my toes, but they work hard and they are what makes my days at Gunn enjoyable.” She has already met a few of the other science teachers and a few of them are new this year so the ones that have had experience at Gunn before have been very supportive.

New Math-Science Secretary Jarrod Pagan has another life outside of Gunn. Currently a member of the band CMYK, he enjoys playing the guitar, keyboard and drums, in addition to singing. As a performer, he has had the privilege of meeting at least 50 famous musicians. He is friends with Robert Smith of The Cure and Davey Havok of AFI.

Art

New art teacher Mark Gleason taught in Connecticut where he was also a high school art teacher. He owns exhibitions of paintings in Tokyo, LA and San Francisco. “I love it [Gunn]. It suits my particular style,” Gleason said. He used to be a DJ and work with Moby and he owns a bull terrier dog. At Gunn, Gleason enjoys working with the high school age group and helping them develop their artistic talents into the next step.

English

An attorney for many years, Ellen Feigenbaum decided to take up teaching as career and is currently teaching English. Last year, she was hired to teach two English courses in the spring, after being a student-teacher in the fall. “I feel extremely fortunate to be teaching English at Gunn,” she said. Outside of school and other activities like reading, seeing movies, running and traveling, she enjoys most of all spending time with her husband, two teenage kids and three dogs.