From surfing to AMA encyclopedias, learn about the new Upper School Faculty | Humans of Catlin Gabel

By Hadley Cress ‘27

In this graphic from left to right and top to bottom is Chris Dupuis, Kanako Iwase, Maggie Bendicksen, Taposhi Biswas. Photo by Hadley Cress.

With the new school year comes the return of old faces and the welcome of new ones. This year at Catlin Gabel School (CGS), the Upper School has four brand new faces, and one coming back after a few years of traveling the world.

Taposhi Biswas, the new Upper School science two and physics based algebra teacher, is truly a gem. Her love for physics mixed with her passion for teaching makes her an amazing new CGS community member.

Biswas’ journey to physics and teaching was not necessarily straightforward. While Biswas was constantly fascinated by science growing up, it wasn’t always physics. From a young age, she wanted to go to medical school, and was interested in biology.

At five years old, Biswas was quite the ambitious reader, even getting her mom to “jerry rig a device” to hold the AMA encyclopedia of Medicine up, said Biswas in an interview. A book from which she loved to diagnose her friends and family.  

Her love for biology continued to grow until an unfortunate incident that resulted in the death of a salamander. After the difficult loss, Biswas was concerned about dealing with the lives of patients in the medical field. Instead, she turned to physics. 

As she continued to pursue physics in college, Biswas started to tutor students in the subject. She slowly realized “I like physics, but, if I'm not sharing it with other people, something is missing.” This discovery led her to a career as a Physics teacher.

While teaching is a large portion of Biswas’ life, it isn’t everything. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys immersing herself in music. Whether that be concerts, acapella, piano, or guitar, she loves it all. Biswas’ hobbies don’t stop there though. She also enjoys crafting, making sour dough, reading, writing, and so much more.

Biswas’ wide range of hobbies comes from her commitment to continue learning. “I need to practice learning because I am helping other people learn,” said Biswas. 

Biswas is not the only new faculty member who started with a love for biology, and then discovered a passion for physics. 

Chris Dupuis, the new Calculus one and Honors Calculus two teacher at CGS, initially went to college to study medicine because biology, throughout high school, was something that felt “natural for [him],” said Dupuis.

While in college however, he was particularly drawn to his physics classes. Dupuis has always been interested in the universe and how it works, but had been deterred by his competency in biology. “It [physics] wasn't my best subject, so it was funny to switch into something that I wasn't immediately good at,” said Dupuis.

Similarly to Biswas, as Dupuis continued to pursue physics, even studying for his PhD, he realized he was more interested in the teaching than the research.

Now as a teacher, Dupuis loves everything about physics and math, but outside of school, he will be found on the golf course.

At a young age, Dupuis started playing golf and basketball, even continuing golf in college, and continues to play in his free time. He has competed in golf tournaments and travelled to play golf, even taking a trip to Ireland. Dupuis' dream destination to play golf is in Scotland, “because that's where golf was created.”

It's not everyday people can travel across the globe to play golf, so when Dupuis isn’t teaching or swinging his club, he makes time for movies. As an avid film watcher, Dupuis estimates that he views 300+ movies a year, 200+ of them being new. 

Dupuis watches all genres of movies, some of his personal favorites being, Master and Commander, My Neighbor Totoro, Oceans 11, and Fantom Thread. 

Movies are a great way to tell stories, as are books. And if you find yourself in the library looking for one, you might see a new face, Kanako Iwase, the new upper school librarian. 

Iwase has been surrounded by books since a young age.When she came to the United States from Japan for schooling, she specialized in library science, eventually going on to graduate school to become a librarian.

As a librarian, Iwase has worked throughout the country, even living in Hawaii when she was working at the University of Hawaii by helping the art history department with image names. 

Iwase’s passion for books is only rivaled by her love of travel. Over her lifetime, she’s visited over 30 countries, although she has not traveled as much in the past few years. She particularly enjoys immersing herself in the culture and connecting with people from the countries she visits.

Iwase has built many connections across the globe, even remaining pen pals with some she met when traveling to Finland, receiving a “beautiful hand drawn greeting card every year.”

Her love for different cultures also shows up in her dance background. When Iwase first moved to the United States, she lived in New York, where she was part of a company that practiced traditional Japanese dance. Later, when Iwase moved to Hawaii to work at the university, she learned traditional Hawaiian hula as well.

While she does not dance as much anymore, she loves to do yoga, and even became certified in teacher yoga over the pandemic.

Iwase’s love for yoga requires balance, just like Maddie Bendicksen’s, the new English 10 teacher at CGS’, love for surfing. For her, “anything in the water” is exciting. Whether it be growing up in New York, spending time at her family's beach house, or surfing on the Oregon coast, Bendickson loves the water.

She first learned to surf here in Oregon years ago and hasn’t stopped, traveling as far as Costa Rica to continue surfing. While Bendicksen loves surfing, it is difficult to do year round, so she fills her time with music.

Bendicksen loves to immerse herself in music, through listening to weekly open mics, participating in three part harmony at a local bar, or going to concerts.

Beyond Bendicksen's hobbies, she has spent a large portion of time teaching here at CGS, but it has not always been in the upper school. Bendicksen was first in the lower school, teaching fourth and fifth graders.

She was initially drawn to the fifth grade because “they’re on the cusp of so much brain development, physical development, emotional and moral development.” she said, adding “It’s really exciting to see kids at a crossroads like that.”

Now, as she has transitioned to teaching 10th grade, she appreciates getting to build on the foundational skills that have already been developed. “There's so many basics that the students come in with in such a strong way that we can kind of fly,” Bendicksen emphasized. 

Later adding “I should knock wood, but classroom management isn't remotely the same as it is in elementary school.”

Outside of the water and classroom, Bendicksen donates a large portion of her time to writing her novel. She is currently on her fifth draft and enjoys working in the cozy ambiance of the Dragonfly Cafe on Thurman. 

Outside of these new faces on campus, you might see one who has returned after a few years of absence. Dave Whitson, the Palma Scholars Program Director, has come back to CGS. Whitson has long been a part of the CGS community, and we are more than happy to see him return.

He has multiple CatlinSpeak articles written on him for students wanting to learn more!

Now as the school year continues, I encourage you to say hi to these new (and old) faces. Strike up a conversation about golf with Dupuis, or learn about some of Iwase’s worldly travels. Regardless of who you talk to, all of these teachers have amazing stories to share.