After just two weeks teaching Biology and Physiology, Dr. Katya Gudis did not return this week and on Wednesday was replaced by a new teacher, Mr. Sean Kangataran.
Dr. Gudis had replaced Ms. Mari Rosales, who resigned unexpedily Jan. 1 to enroll in nursing school at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Gudis becomes the third teacher to leave unexpectedly this school year, following Ms. Rosales and former History teacher Mr. Larry Mullin.
Head of School Rabbi Ari Segal said the three events were unrelated.
“I expect a stable staff going forward,” Rabbi Segal wrote in a response to e-mailed questions. “Each of these departures have been independent of each other and have happened for different reasons. It would be like flipping a coin three times and all of them ending up tails and assuming there is some pattern there. There isn’t.”
He also said it had nothing to do with changes in administration over the past year.
“This happens in schools – particularly when we expect and demand excellence and then hold people accountable for it,” Rabbi Segal wrote..
Before coming to Shalhevet, Dr. Gudis had worked as a scientist in the U.S. and Japan. Born in El Salvador, she grew up partly in the United States and received her Ph.D. from Japan’s Nippon Medical School.
In a letter to parents last month announcing her appointment, Mr. Danovitch praised Dr. Gudis’s experience in both teaching and research.
“We were impressed by her commitment to project-based learning, and the unique and collaborative lessons she uses to bring Science to life for young students,” Mr. Danovitch wrote Jan. 23 in an e-mail announcing her appointment.
Mr. Kangataran, who Mr. Danovitch said taught science in his home country of Ireland, is also a musician who is establishing himself in the folk-blues genre in Los Angeles. A Google search of his name brings up a series of blogs, Twitter pages, Youtube videos, articles and reviews about him and his work.
Among the MP3 files available for download on Amazon.com are songs with such titles as “It is not the Hurt that Hurts,” “Lightning,” “Don’t Bet on Beauty,” and “Be the Dust,” all from his self-titled album.
“An undeniable warmth radiates through Sean’s songs,” writes fellow musician Ryan Stively of the band Port O’Brien on Mr. Kangataran’s website. “It’s a difficult thing to approach a well-tread acoustic folkrock format and make it feel so original, but Sean has done just that.”
In his blog, titled www.seankangataran.com, he wrote last fall, “Today is exactly one year since I first arrived in Los Angeles. I was thrilled by all of the palm trees everywhere and how striking the light here is. It’s different here. We forget that. It’s a hard light and everything is filtered slightly green. Magical.”
