Lick-Wilmerding High School welcomes Eran DeSilva, Interim Dean of Faculty. While her role primarily encompasses managing the faculty and staff, DeSilva has been working with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team to introduce and teach the new Identity and Belonging class, which will provide freshmen with an introduction to understanding how their identities impact their engagement with the world.
“I think that’s what everyone needs right now—to be able to understand self and others in order to really live in community with each other,” DeSilva said.
Prior to LWHS, DeSilva held a 25-year career at Notre Dame High School in San Jose as the Director of Teaching and Learning. What drew her to LWHS is its commitment to diversity and holistic approach to education. This year, she is excited to connect with students, dive into LWHS traditions and even try her hand at being the mascot in the tiger suit!
DeSilva emigrated from Sri Lanka to San Jose—which she now calls home—when she was young. Despite her family’s initial reluctance to immigrate, DeSilva is a believer that everyone is meant to have their path. For her, this purpose was made especially clear after learning about an astrological reading done after her birth, which revealed that “[her] soul does not belong here.” She holds these words as a testament that leaving Sri Lanka led her to exactly where she needed to be: the bay.
Outside of school, DeSilva loves caring for her flower garden, letting her foodie instincts guide her world travel, being a mother and studio art—which she studied alongside International Relations at University of California, Davis.
This year, LWHS can look forward to her warm energy and love for laughs. Her dream is to be a stand-up comedian, which she is working her way up to now with coffee shop bits.
She leaves the LWHS community with this wisdom: “You can’t always see the next step, but if you keep moving forward, the path will eventually become clear.”
