Yacolt Primary special education teacher Susan Lee talks to students about a book last week. She is retiring after 17 years of service.
Left to right: Mary Morgan, Terry Kenck and Marion Baty of Chief Umtuch Middle School.
Diane Lund of Yacolt Primary School is one of the longest tenured retiring employees from Battle Ground Public Schools with 34 years.
Left to right: Georgianne O'Donnell, Laurie Amash, Ginger Reyes and Gary Erickson from Laurin Middle School.
Battle Ground Public Schools will lose 43 employees to retirement when the school year ends this week.
The minimum amount of time any retiring person served with the district is three years. Most, however, have been with the district for a decade or more.
Diane Lund, a special education teacher at Yacolt Primary School is one of the longest tenured of the bunch with 34 years at BGPS.
“There are some things I’ll really miss a lot, like the kids of course and the interaction with adult co-workers,” Lund said.
One of those co-workers through the years has been Susan Lee, who is also a special education teacher at Yacolt Primary and will be retiring alongside Lund. Lee has contributed 17 years of service to the district.
“I’m a third generation employee in the Battle Ground school district, so it has always been close and dear to my heart,” she said. “Battle Ground really tries to support their students and I’ll miss being a part of that everyday.”
Both Lee and Lund will be hard for Principal Ken Evans to replace.
“They’ve been very dedicated teachers who really care about children,” Evans said. “It’s been very nice having them on staff.”
Lund said she hopes there will be no waterworks on her final day with the kids on Friday, but it will be hard.
“I’m hoping not to get emotional when I say goodbye to them,” she said. “I hate to get like that, but I might.”
Lee had similar comments about missing the children.
“You get that first group of kids coming to sit down in the morning which is one of my favorite things to see,” Lee said. “I’ll miss that everyday routine.”
35 Years or More
• Terry Kenck, Chief Umtuch Middle School, 39 years of service, sixth grade teacher
• Gary Erickson, Laurin Middle School, 37 years of service, shop teacher
30-34 Years
• Marion Baty, Chief Umtuch Middle School, 34 years of service, fifth grade teacher
• Diane Lewis-Lund, Yacolt Primary School, 34 years of service, center-based classroom teacher
• Steve Beecroft, Prairie High School, 33 years of service, science teacher
• Mary Morgan, Chief Umtuch Middle School, 32 years of service, center-based classroom teacher
• Laurie Thurman, Summit View High School, 32 years of service, family and consumer sciences teacher
• Laurie Amash, Laurin Middle School, 31 years of service, assistant secretary
• Patricia Pisarczyk, Pleasant Valley Middle School, 30 years of service, head secretary
• Diane Brown, Battle Ground High School, 30 years of service, center-based classroom teacher
25-29 Years
• Theresa Ryan, Tukes Valley Primary School, 29 years of service, pre-school teacher
• James Brothers, Amboy Middle School, 28 years of service, eight grade teacher
• Donna Watrin, Pleasant Valley Primary School, 28 years of service, math intervention specialist
• Karla Kalian, Battle Ground High School, 27 years of service, assistant principal
• Paul White, Pleasant Valley Middle School, 27 years of service, health and fitness teacher
• Deborah Langevin, Pleasant Valley campus, 27 years of service, custodian
• Diane Mason, Tukes Valley Primary School, 26 years of service, support services instructional assistant, English as a second language
20-24 Years
• Terese Smykowski, Laurin Middle School, 24 years of service, basic education assistant
• Emily Meek, River HomeLink, 24 years of service, drama/writing teacher
• David Richardson, Prairie High School, 24 years of service, photography teacher
• Evan Irwin, Pleasant Valley Middle School, 21 years of service, band teacher
• Robert Winston, Glenwood Heights Primary School, 21 years of service, school psychologist
• Larry Delamarter, River HomeLink, 21 years of service, history teacher
15-19 Years
• Nancy Bone, Chief Umtuch Middle School, 19 years of service, art specialist
• Bobbi Passant, Battle Ground High School, 19 years of service, campus security
• Charles Crowson, Operations, 19 years of service, HVAC technician
• Cheryl Freese, Battle Ground High School, 18 years of service, special education assistant /basic education assistant
• Nadine Nakagawa, Battle Ground High School, 18 years of service, resource room teacher
• Lori Walker, Chief Umtuch Middle School, 17 years of service, special education assistant / basic education assistant
• Susan Lee, Yacolt Primary School, 17 years of service, resource room teacher
• Ronald Jensen, Battle Ground High School, 15 years of service, resource room teacher
10-14 Years
• Georgianne O'Donnell, Laurin Middle School, 14 years of service, sixth grade teacher
• Brenda Richardson, Prairie High School, 14 years of service, science teacher
• Dora Swart, Battle Ground High School, 12 years of service, assistant principal
• Jann Byrd, Prairie High School, 12 years of service, assistant principal
• Bill Penrose, Summit View High School, 12 years of service, principal
• Julie Backous, CASEE A, 12 years of service, administrative assistant to the superintendent and board of directors
• Barbara Maehara, River HomeLink, 11 years of service, science teacher
Served 1-9 Years
• Ginger Reyes, Laurin Middle School, 9 years of service, special education assistant
• Irma Edgerly, Daybreak Primary School, 8 years of service, teacher librarian
• Patti Trotter, Prairie High School, 7 years of service, special education assistant
• Jana Hart, Laurin Middle School, 5 years of service, choir teacher
• Mark Hottowe, CASEE A, 3 years of service, superintendent
- Information provided by Battle Ground Public Schools
